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Hobbs, N.M. will play host to the Uranium Fuel Cell Conference on Wednesday and Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-Hobbs, and New Mexico Secretary of Economic Development Jon Barela will present state and federal viewpoints on the economic impact of nuclear energy.

According to a news release, the event is the first of its kind to feature leaders who can speak on all aspects of the uranium cycle, from mining and exploration to nuclear energy and spent fuel storage.

The event will include a panel discussion on the Fukushima reactor in Japan, which was damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, with a technical presentation comparing it to the 1979 Three Mile Island incident.

HOBBS, N.M., April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former Senator Pete V. Domenici will be the key note speaker at the Uranium Fuel Cycle Conference, April 27 in Hobbs, N.M.

The N.M. Center for Energy Policy, which is a division of New Mexico Tech, in partnership with the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County and New Mexico Junior College, is organizing the conference to bring together leaders in nuclear-related mining, energy and waste management. Domenici has long been considered one of the most consistent and forceful national advocates of the nuclear industry.

The six-term senator from New Mexico is a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, a panel formed by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2009 and tasked by Secretary Steven Chu to study options for the disposal of nuclear waste.

New Mexico Tech Vice President Dr. Van Romero, a speaker at the event, said Domenici is expected to deliver remarks relative the uranium fuel cycle, with special attention to environmental issues related to disposal of spent fuel.

A special session will address the crisis at the Fukushima reactor in Japan.

"As we understand more and more about what is happening and what has happened in Fukushima, it becomes more obvious that spent fuel pools are a major contributor to environmental issues," Romero said.

"This will be the first public forum to review public safety issues in the nuclear energy industry since the incident in Japan," conference organizer Dr. Daniel Fine said. "This is terribly important because of the potential loss of public confidence in nuclear energy."

Fine said that public polls showed that 60 percent of Americans opposed nuclear energy after the Three Mile Island incident. Public sentiment did not begin to improve until 2005 and we would like to avoid a decrease in public confidence because of the accident in Japan, he said.

The conference takes place in Lea County, which is known as the EnergyPlex of Eastern New Mexico with capital investment in uranium enrichment and waste/storage and with uranium tailings recovery potential.

To learn more about the conference or register, please visit www.energyplexnm.com or call 575-397-2039.

SOURCE Economic Development Corporation of Lea County Back to top

RELATED LINKS http://www.edclc.org

Conference organizer Dr. Daniel Fine of the N.M. Center for Energy Policy announced Monday that the additional event will give experts a forum to discuss public health and safety, which have stepped to the forefront of nuclear energy discussions since the accident in Fukushima, Japan.

Dr. Van Romero, Vice President of Research and Economic Development at New Mexico Tech, will give a technical presentation, explaining what happened and comparing the incident to the Three Mile Island incident of 1979. Romero also serves as a professor of physics. Previous to his academic position, Romero worked 12 years in the nuclear reactor industry.

Tim Beville, of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, will join Romero in the special session, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. April 28. Beville will discuss how the accident in Japan will affect U.S. nuclear energy policy and programs.

“This will be the first public forum to review public safety issues in the nuclear energy industry since the incident in Japan,” Fine said. “This is terribly important because of the potential loss of public confidence in nuclear energy.”

Fine said that public polls showed that 60 percent of Americans opposed nuclear energy after the Three Mile Island incident. Public sentiment did not begin to change until 2005, he said.

“Do we want to see another generation of loss of public confidence in nuclear energy because of the accident in Japan?” he said. “That topic underlines this special session.”

Fine said Beville’s presentation represents the first time a Department of Energy official will present the federal government’s position on future nuclear energy development in America since the Japan accident.

“This is a major response in the Southwest and in New Mexico to create a national forum for nuclear energy in the future,” Fine said. “We’ll present a technical review of what went wrong in Japan, but also look at U.S. policy and program review in terms of the consequences of the Japan accident.”

Fine said the Uranium Fuel Cycle Conference will be the first public education event outside Washington to focus on Japan and its impact on nuclear energy in the United States.

In his presentation, Romero will examine what has happened at the Fukushima Reactor from a scientific and engineering perspective, without a political spin.

“My intention is to make sense of all the information available,” he said. “I want to put the facts out there and allow people to make an informed decision about the viability of nuclear power in New Mexico.”

Romero said he expects the incident in Japan to slow down development of new nuclear reactors in New Mexico, but he hopes recent events promote continued discussion about the future of American energy policy and how U.S. leaders can craft policy that promotes safe nuclear energy.

“The events in Japan have raised concerns about the safety of nuclear power,” Romero said. “If you listen to the news, it seems like there’s nothing but crisis after crisis. Yet, nothing has really happened. There is cause to be concerned. Like anything, there are risks; we need to understand those risks and act appropriately.”

Romero said two lessons learned from recent events are that smaller reactors are probably safer and that storing spent fuel at the reactor is not a good practice.

Also in the realm of public safety, the conference will address issues regarding development and licensure of reactors in seismically active zones, such as California, which gets 15 percent of its energy from two nuclear reactors, Fine said.

The event takes place in the energy corridor of Eastern New Mexico with capital investment in uranium enrichment and waste/storage and with uranium tailings recovery potential. Small Modular Reactor technology will be presented as a new and innovative technology choice for deployment.

Both Romero and Beville will present projections on the future of nuclear energy in the U.S. Southwest – also a conference first.

The Special Session is part of a planned two-day conference organized by the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy beginning the morning of April 27. For registration and information see the Center for Energy Policy website.

– NMT –

By Thomas Guengerich/New Mexico Tech