Spotlight finds NREL in latest YMG webinar
The ANS Young Members Group (YMG) continues to deliver an in-depth look at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories through a series of live webinars called Spotlight on National Labs. The fourth and most recent webinar focused on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colo., and its role in advancing clean energy technologies and their integration into the global energy system. “It is exciting to have the lead renewable energy national lab discuss their work toward a flexible grid of the future and system integration efforts among all carbon-free sources, including nuclear energy,” said Harsh Desai, YMG chair.
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The webinar: More than 500 people joined in on May 20 to learn about NREL’s history and how the lab applies its expertise worldwide to optimize energy system performance and to scale up use of advanced energy technologies for the power, transportation, and industrial sectors.
NREL is a lab that “is doing some downright fascinating research into the future of energy grid infrastructure and the synergies between nuclear and renewable energy sources,” according to Matt Wargon, co–program chair and incoming YMG executive committee member.
Timothy Crook, a YMG executive committee member, shares the duties of co–program chair with Wargon. “NREL used much of this webinar as a way to showcase how nuclear and renewables can work in harmony, a vision for a clean energy future the nuclear community should embrace with open arms!”he said.
The webinar provided many interesting facts and tidbits about NREL, but one thing in particular stood out for Wargon, who served as moderator. “I was especially impressed with the data visualization capabilities showcasing grid performance during different scenarios because I think good visualization is a key—but often overlooked—facet in properly communicating to the public,” he said.
Coming up next: The next Spotlight on National Labs webinar is coming soon. In the meantime, YMG and the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear are co-sponsoring a webinar on June 18 called “Clean Nuclear Energy for Industry: The Case for SMRs and Microreactors in Puerto Rico.” Register for it here.
ANS’s entire library of informative webinars is archived and accessible to ANS members at Webinars on Demand. Upcoming ANS webinars are listed at www.ans.org/webinars.
