Argonne launches new utility advisory board

ARGONNE, Ill. (June 11, 2004) — Laboratory Director Hermann Grunder announced today the formation of an Argonne National Laboratory/University of Chicago Utility Advisory Board. The new board, comprised of senior executives from eight nuclear generating companies will provide advice to the laboratory on the direction and focus of the laboratory's priorities in three key areas related to nuclear energy:

• Continued operation of the nation's 104 existing nuclear power plants.
• Implementation of the joint industry-government Nuclear Power 2010 program, aimed at building new nuclear plants in the U.S.
• Demonstration of Generation IV technologies in Idaho.

“Nuclear generation is critical to long-term energy supply and U.S. energy independence,” said Lab Director Hermann Grunder. “This utility-laboratory advisory board will help us focus our core competencies in nuclear energy on both the near-term and long-term needs of the nation.”

At the first meeting of the utility advisory board, held on April 23, 2004, in Argonne, Ill., Michael Sellman, president and chief executive officer of Nuclear Management Company was elected to head the board. The board also voted to approve the charter, which outlined several initial areas of activities, and formed several working groups corresponding to the corresponding areas of focus.

Specifically, initial efforts of the board will focus on examining the role of the laboratory in supporting safety, fuels testing, materials science and reliability of the nation's existing nuclear power plants. A working group was also established as an industry-laboratory partnership to conduct detailed analyses of the business case for installing additional nuclear capacity on the United States . With its world-renowned School of Business, the University of Chicago is uniquely qualified to contribute to these analyses.

Nuclear generating companies currently represented on the utility advisory board include American Electric Power, Constellation Energy, Dominion Energy, Entergy, Exelon, Nuclear Management Corporation, Omaha Public Power District and Southern California Edison. Together, these utilities own and operate 41 nuclear units in the United States.

Additionally the board includes membership of a former president and chief nuclear officer of PSEG Nuclear.

The Argonne National Laboratory/University of Chicago Utility Advisory Board will meet semiannually. The next meeting is planned to occur this fall 2004, in Idaho Falls, Idaho .

The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy 's Office of Science .

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Connell (208/533-7837 or media@anl.gov ) at Argonne.