Wisconsin professor, former Nuclear Society president to discuss need for nuclear power in U.S.

The 16th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series continues on Tuesday, Aug. 13, featuring Professor Michael L. Corradini, director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute and past president of the American Nuclear Society. He will discuss “The Need for Nuclear Power in the U.S.”

The event is sponsored by Friends of ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory). It’s free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 S. Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge. A reception for the speaker starts at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served) in the museum lobby, and his lecture starts at 6:30 p.m. This talk should be of interest to the general public.

The current U.S. energy policy is an “all of the above” policy. While this seems inclusive, forceful actions need to be taken to keep alternatives to currently cheap natural gas viable, particularly nuclear energy.

“We need an energy policy that supports research and development in nuclear power technology, expedite its policy for nuclear fuel disposition, support trade and export in civilian nuclear generation technology, and invest in the human infrastructure, which is the key to long-term sustainability,” a press release said. “With actions like these, we can avoid the pitfall of drifting into heavy reliance on a single, volatile fossil fuel, and go into the long term with the unique benefits of a growing use of nuclear energy. This talk will review where we are and we should go.”

Corradini is Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as chair of engineering physics from 2001-2011. He has published widely in areas related to vapor explosion phenomena, jet spray dynamics, and transport phenomena in multiphase systems. In 1998, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He also served as a presidential appointee in 2002 and 2003 as the chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. From 2004-2008, he served on the INPO National Accreditation Board for Nuclear Training. In 2006, he was appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. Most recently, he was appointed chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the French Atomic Energy Agency. He was elected as the president of the American Nuclear Society for 2012–2013. He began and now serves as the director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute.

The Friends of ORNL, or FORNL, is an organization formed to facilitate and maintain a beneficial association of those who have an interest in ORNL. FORNL provides a mechanism for members to keep in touch with co-workers, retirees, and current ORNL activities by providing the community at large with presentations and events.