Thermal System Coupling - from the 2019 ANS Winter Meeting
It's no secret that public will and a great deal of marketing have combined to legislate large amounts of renewable energy onto parts of the US grid (and indeed grids around the world.) The challenges that this brings are particularly severe for nuclear energy, which is commonly threatened when expected to operate in an environment where everything else has to "get out of the way" for renewables. The question is: Can nuclear play a role if it's coupled with some kind of energy storage? The early answers seem to be well into the "yes" range, as was explained today during an excellent technical session featuring a number of speakers.