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View the agenda below and register here to join the conversation. The cutoff date to secure group room rates through WGA is September 1.  

Monday September 22

12:00 p.m.: Welcome and Introductions  

• Jack Waldorf, WGA Executive Director  

12:35 p.m.: Opening Remarks  

• John Wagner, Director, Idaho National Laboratory

12:45 - 1:15 p.m.: Governors’ Discussion  

• The Honorable Brad Little, Governor of Idaho  
• The Honorable Spencer Cox, Governor of Utah 
• Moderated by: John Wagner, Director, Idaho National Laboratory 

1:15 - 1:15 p.m.: Keynote 1

• The Honorable Bradley Crowell, Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

2:00 - 2:55 p.m.: Panel 1: Regulatory and Permitting Challenges 

Nuclear energy development in the U.S. faces complex regulatory and permitting challenges that contribute to high costs and long project timelines.  Panelists will discuss how regulatory barriers such as uncertainty in approval timelines and a lack of clear pathways for advanced reactor deployment have made it difficult to scale up the development and construction of nuclear projects efficiently despite the growing demand for reliable, carbon-free energy.  

2:55 - 3:50 p.m.: Panel 2: Public Investment and Policy Support 

Advanced reactor designs and newer technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), hold significant promise for safer, more flexible, and more efficient nuclear power, but face high technical and financial barriers to commercialization.  Scaling up nuclear energy technology in the U.S. requires strong support for research, development, and deployment, particularly to help industry first movers overcome early-stage risks.  Panelists will discuss public investment and policy support, including demonstration funding, necessary to prove viability, reduce costs, and build the foundation for a competitive, next-generation nuclear industry. 

4:00 - 4:55 p.m.: Panel 3: Market Challenges and Private Sector Investment  

Nuclear energy projects are often burdened by high upfront capital and construction costs, exacerbated by long timelines and cost overruns that can make it challenging to secure investment.  While federal mechanisms like loan guarantees and tax incentives provide some support, private sector investment will also be needed to improve the financial viability of these projects.  Policy and market uncertainty, inconsistent incentives, and a lack of long-term pricing further complicate investment decisions. 

5:00 - 6:30 p.m.: Reception at the Energy Innovation Laboratory

Tuesday, September 23  

8:00 a.m.: Welcome   

• Jack Waldorf, WGA Executive Director  

8:10 - 9:05 a.m.: Panel 4: Supply Chain 

The construction of nuclear reactors depends on a stable supply chain of critical components including specialized metals, reactor parts, and advanced fuels.  This supply is often constrained by limited domestic production and a small pool of certified suppliers and exacerbated by complex and time-consuming certification processes that deter new entrants and reduce flexibility.  This panel will explore how these challenges, which often contribute to delays and cost increases, can be mitigated to facilitate nuclear energy projects. 

9:05 - 10:00 a.m.: Panel 5: Nuclear Fuel Cycle 

The process of producing, utilizing, and managing nuclear fuel for energy generation is critical to ensuring the safe, reliable, and sustainable operation of nuclear power systems.  However, challenges related to this nuclear fuel cycle present significant barriers to nuclear energy development.  On the front end, key steps like mining, conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication suffer from limited domestic capacity, increasing reliance on foreign suppliers, and regulatory hurdles that significantly slow expansion.  On the back end, the lack of a long-term national strategy for spent fuel management and disposal remains unresolved, creating additional uncertainty for utilities, communities, and other stakeholders.  Panelists will discuss strategies for overcoming these gaps in the fuel cycle that contribute to increased project costs, complicate licensing, and undermine confidence in the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy projects. 

10:00 - 10:55 a.m.: Panel 6: Workforce and Construction Capacity 

The nuclear industry faces growing workforce and construction capacity challenges such as a declining number of new entrants to the industry and an aging workforce, creating significant barriers to building and scaling up new nuclear projects.  Additionally, the absence of a steady stream of projects has made it challenging to maintain a workforce with specialized nuclear training, certifications, and code expertise.  This panel will examine strategies for addressing nuclear workforce challenges, including investments in workforce development, training programs, and efforts to build industrial capacity for large-scale nuclear construction. 

11:00 - 11:55 a.m.: Panel 7: Building Public Trust  

Nuclear energy offers several distinct benefits, providing clean, carbon-free, reliable baseload power with a higher capacity factor than any other electricity generation technology.  Despite these advantages, nuclear energy continues to face significant social distrust, rooted in fears about safety due to prior high-profile accidents.  These concerns are often amplified by factors like misinformation, lack of transparency, and a legacy of limited community engagement in siting decisions.  This panel will examine these challenges and discuss how to overcome distrust in the West over nuclear energy.