Steve Nesbit
President
LMNT Consulting

Abstract

The seminar will provide a historical overview of nuclear power reactor licensing in the United States, and discuss ongoing changes to the licensing framework that take advantage of inherent safety characteristics of advanced reactors and light water small modular reactors.  These changes include an expanded use of risk-informed, performance-based regulation and a focus on accomplishing required safety functions as opposed to satisfying deterministic requirements.

The Licensing Modernization Program (LMP) and the Technology Inclusive Content of Application Project (TICAP) are key elements of the modernized licensing framework.  Both were Southern Company-led projects with support from the Department of Energy through the Idaho National Laboratory.  LMP provides a methodology for selection of licensing basis events; safety classification of structures, systems, and components and associated risk-informed special treatments; and determination of defense-in-depth adequacy for non-light water reactors.  TICAP provides guidance for format, content, and level of detail in the portions of the reactor Safety Analysis Report related to the LMP methodology.  The Nuclear Energy Institute submitted reports on LMP and TICAP to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for review.  The NRC endorsed both documents via regulatory guides, finding that they provide acceptable approaches for meeting existing NRC regulations for licensing nuclear power reactors.  In addition, the LMP methodology is a key component of the ongoing NRC rulemaking to establish a new regulation (10 CFR Part 53) for advanced reactor licensing. The ultimate goal of these and other risk-informed, performance-based initiatives is to establish an improved licensing framework that facilitates efficient preparation by the applicant, review by the regulator, and maintenance by the licensee.  Doing so should enhance the ability of nuclear energy to meet the United States’ clean and reliable energy goals.

Biography

Steve Nesbit founded LMNT Consulting in 2019 following a distinguished career with Duke Energy Corporation. LMNT Consulting provides support on matters related to nuclear technology, energy, and the environment. The company has worked on projects related to the nuclear fuel cycle (front and back end), advanced nuclear energy systems, and nuclear nonproliferation.

Nesbit’s career at Duke Energy began in 1982 doing nuclear safety analysis. Between 1996 and 2005, he led Duke Energy’s efforts related to the use of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in its nuclear power reactors as a part of the Department of Energy (DOE) project to dispose of surplus plutonium from nuclear weapons. He also managed used nuclear fuel activities for Duke Energy. For nine years he was the company’s Director of Nuclear Policy, responsible for developing policy positions related to nuclear power and interacting with industry and government groups on used fuel management and related issues.

In addition to substantial accomplishments in the nuclear utility sector, Nesbit was involved in several DOE projects through Duke Energy and its former affiliate, Duke Engineering & Services. He held leadership roles in the New Production Reactor Project, the Yucca Mountain Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal Project, the Centralized Interim Storage Facility Project, and the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Project. He supported the Department of State on outreach to countries with developing nuclear power programs. His plutonium disposition work led to involvement in nuclear nonproliferation issues, and he served on the International Panel of Experts for the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2023 Nuclear Security Index reports.

Nesbit has been involved in used fuel issues through a number of industry groups and other organizations, including the American Nuclear Society (ANS), the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council (NIC), the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition. He published technical and policy papers on geologic repository seismic design methodology, centralized interim storage, an improved used fuel management organization, and a proposed waste acceptance queue for shutdown nuclear power reactors. He was a co-author of the 2023 ANS report on generic repository standards. He testified to both houses of Congress on used fuel issues – the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in 2017 and the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in 2019.
Nesbit received Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Virginia. He is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina and Maine. He was an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he taught nuclear engineering. Nesbit is was ANS President from June 2021 to June 2022 and is a Fellow of the society.
 

Thursday, October 10. 2024
4:10 pm seminar

zoom link upon request