Nuclear Energy Post-Fukushima: Free Lecture April 19
Sandia’s Andrew Orrell to deliver lecture at UTSA Downtown Campus
The Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and the San Antonio Clean Technology Forum invite the public to attend “A Quake Felt Round the World: Fukushima and the Future of Nuclear Energy, Globally and Locally,” a free lecture featuring nuclear energy expert Andrew Orrell, director of Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Programs at Sandia National Laboratories.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 in the Riklin Auditorium (FS 1.406) of the Frio Street Building on the UTSA Downtown Campus. A 15-minute Q&A session will close the lecture.
Prior to last month’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan, subsequent tsunami and ensuing nuclear emergency at Fukushima, nuclear energy was gaining greater commercial and public support, both internationally and domestically. The growing support was leading to significant increases in new-build nuclear projects, license-extensions for existing plants and investment in new technology such as small modular reactors. However, the events at Fukushima Daiichi have tempered that support, leaving the leaders of nuclear programs compelled to reflect on their nuclear energy ambitions. Orrell’s lecture will review the pre-quake global and domestic nuclear energy forecast, summarize the factors that helped alleviate or exacerbate the Fukushima situation and examine some of the potential impacts of Fukushima to the United States’ nuclear energy future.
Orrell’s career spans 20 years at Sandia National Laboratories and today focuses on the interlinking technical, program and policy elements of nuclear waste management and nuclear energy. As director of Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Programs at Sandia, Orrell is responsible for the performance of a broad range of research and development initiatives involving all facets of the nuclear fuel cycle. He directs programs that focus on advanced nuclear energy systems studies, small modular reactor systems, nuclear reactor severe accident consequence analysis, and nuclear transportation and storage, among other topics. In addition, he regularly serves as a government and international programs consultant for nuclear energy issues such as repository development and licensing, national policy, transportation programs and public confidence building.
Sandia’s work on severe accident analysis associated with nuclear facilities is widely recognized by the international community and has been ongoing for more than 30 years. Much of this work has been done in collaboration with Japan and many other members of the international community and involves coupling large-scale experimental programs with modeling and simulation. From 1998 to 2008, Sandia was cited in the technical nuclear engineering literature more than any other DOE laboratory, in large part because of the significance of this work.
Reservations are not required to attend the free April 19 lecture, however seating is limited and will be available on a first come-first served basis. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. The lecture will begin promptly at 4 p.m. and will close with a question-and-answer session.
