Tennessee Tech College of Engineering Dean Joseph Slater said the state’s decision to invest in advance fusion energy provides Tennessee with a massive opportunity.
Governor Bill Lee and TDEC issued the state’s first ever fusion-specific byproduct material license, a step closer to a commercial fusion project. Slater said the state aims to establish itself as a global leader in using nuclear power technology.
“This is giant,” Slater said. “There’s a lot of opportunity to generate energy from fusion. There’s a lot of different ways to use what we know about nuclear science that we can leverage to generate energy for humankind and for the betterment of Tennessee. We want to be a leader. We want to be a leader in using the technology of nuclear power to lead, not just the United States but the world. And so this is a very important step to getting out and ahead of this.”
Slater said the scientific process of fusion involves slamming certain atoms together to release energy, which differs from the traditional fission process of breaking atoms down. Slater said the initiative is part of a comprehensive effort to expand how the nation produces electricity at the atomic level.
“It’s really a matter of comprehensiveness,” Slater said. “Major concerns do exist about nuclear energy as they do for any other one. Burning coal, fossil fuels, solar, they all have their pros and cons. And the more that we can try these things and invest in them, we can learn about them and leverage them.”
Slater said the United States has successfully utilized nuclear reactors on naval vessels and submarines for decades. Slater said the current movement is focused on bringing that established excellence to land-based power generation after years of stagnation caused by past challenges in other countries.
“I think it’s fair to say that there is a race right now,” Slater said. “And whoever wins this race is going to reap the economic benefits of being ahead and staying ahead because we do still design nuclear reactors overseas, we just don’t put them in this country as often as we should. And putting them here in Tennessee allows us to be that much more competitive, gain more experience here rather than overseas, and leverage the benefits of our own science and technology better than we have in the past.”
Slater said Tennessee faces stiff international competition from countries like France, China, and India that are pushing heavily into nuclear energy. Slater said France currently generates the majority of its electricity through nuclear power, serving as a model for how the technology can be implemented extensively.
“They certainly grow excitement in going into the fields of nuclear energy,” Slater said. “For quite a few decades, as I mentioned earlier, we have been very slow in developing new nuclear power plants. And there were plenty of mistakes along the way where expenses got out of hand. They were out of control for a variety of reasons and I think we understand a whole lot better. We did very, very well with nuclear power plants on ships, but we didn’t do it on land. And public attitude justifiably turned against nuclear power because it didn’t look like it was worthwhile. But France has demonstrated that it can be done. They do it extensively. And we need to learn from them and our students are now seeing, yes, this is a major opportunity.”
Slater said the state’s focus on fusion will help recruit students to Tennessee Tech by validating the career opportunities available in the nuclear field.
“An announcement like this validates what we see going on around the world and will help to encourage young minds to join the field of nuclear engineering.” Slater said.
Tennessee is the first state in the nation to issue a license under a new regulatory framework specifically for nuclear fusion machines.
