1:00 to 2:15 PM
"The purpose of this Webinar is to provide students with a broad background of the current state of nuclear power and the nuclear renaissance. Topics will range from a history of nuclear power in Minnesota to nuclear power’s role in the national energy policy debate. With growing concerns over climate change and nuclear power’s ability to provide safe, reliable, and carbon free energy, new nuclear power is becoming of growing interest. Currently, 15 applications representing 24 new nuclear units and 30,000 megawatts of electric capacity have been filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and are being reviewed. Information will be discussed on the proposed designs, regulatory process and costs of the proposed new nuclear power plants. Finally, the current and future policies concerning the management of used nuclear fuel will be examined."
Terry Pickens is currently the Director of Nuclear Regulatory Policy for Xcel Energy at its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois and has completed the Energy Services Executive Program at the University of Michigan, School of Business. He began his career in the nuclear industry in 1976 as a project engineer working on Commonwealth Edison’s (now Exelon) Dresden and Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plants. He came to Northern States Power in 1983 where he worked as a licensing engineer on the Monticello and Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plants. Since 1983 he has served on multiple industry committees. He chaired the Boiling Water Reactor Owners’ Group from June 1986 to June 1987. From 1988 until 1993 he was the Project Manager for the Monticello Lead Plant License Renewal Pilot Project sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute and the United States Department of Energy. He was with Nuclear Management Company (NMC) from 2000 until 2006 where he managed NMC’s Government and Regulatory Affairs efforts. He returned to his current position with Xcel Energy in February 2007.