BY GEORGE CHANDLER
Los Alamos

I have complained long and loud about the sparseness of the data from NuScale on the development and testing of the NuScale nuclear core.  At the last public hearing in August a year ago I submitted a number of questions that were very poorly answered, and I complained  more.  In response to my and perhaps others’ complaints Cornell Wright, Chair of the Utilities Board, invited Jose Reyes, the Chief Technical Officer of NuScale, to give a technical presentation and made available to him the questions that had been raised.  

Reyes presented to the Utilities Board last night and I am delighted to report that he gave an excellent and thorough technical review that addressed most of my concerns.  He answered questions from the Board and me, not always to my complete satisfaction but we can agree to disagree on some things.  One very important concern he said he would explore is getting NuScale to make periodic progress reports on the development of the Nuclear Power Module.  

So I want to thank Reyes and NuScale for their appearance.  Most of all I want to thank Cornell Wright for recognizing the importance of this kind of response to criticism for the credibility of the Utilities Board, the County, and the nuclear industry.  

I believe we are witnessing and perhaps contributing to a nuclear renaissance.