The Energy Impact Center is an American research institute based in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
It primarily advocates for the expansion of
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
as a
clean energy
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and s ...
solution to
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. The organization's research into nuclear power has led it to the development of projects like
OPEN100, an open-source platform with blueprints for nuclear power plant design and construction. In 2020, the center spun out Last Energy, a commercial developer aimed at linking investors with agencies looking to build nuclear plants. The center is also responsible for the podcasts, ''
Titans of Nuclear'' and ''Energy Impact''. It was founded in 2017 by Bret Kugelmass.
History
The Energy Impact Center (EIC) was founded in Washington, D.C. by Bret Kugelmass in 2017.
The goal at the organization's outset was to advocate for an increase in nuclear power
to help reverse the effects of climate change by 2040.
In 2017,
Kugelmass began conducting interviews as head of EIC with experts in nuclear energy and related fields for a podcast called ''Titans of Nuclear''.
The podcast debuted in January 2018.
Over the course of 2018 and 2019, Kugelmass and other members of the EIC team conducted around 1,500 interviews for the podcast
and visited over 100 nuclear sites to compile research about the feasibility of nuclear power expansion.
In 2019, the center introduced the Nuclear Energy Grand Challenge,
a prize competition that asked university students to develop business proposals for mitigating the cost, duration, and risks of power plant construction and maintenance.
In February 2020, the EIC introduced two new entities:
OPEN100 and
Last Energy.
The former is an open-source platform that aims to ease the design and construction process of nuclear power plants by providing freely-available blueprints.
The latter is a for-profit startup that connects investors with agencies looking to develop nuclear power plants. Last Energy received $3 million in a funding round led by
First Round Capital
First Round Capital is a US-based venture capital firm that specializes in providing seed-stage funding to technology companies.
Founded by Josh Kopelman and Howard Morgan First Round typically provides seed-stage funding and focuses on po ...
at the time of the announcement.
In 2021, EIC introduced a second podcast called ''Energy Impact'' that focuses on a broader range of energy-related topics.
In July of that year, it was announced that
Transcorp Energy in Nigeria had agreed to use EIC's OPEN100 model to construct the country's first nuclear power plants.
Projects
OPEN100
OPEN100 is an open-source platform that publishes blueprints for the design and construction of nuclear power plants.
It also provides financing and maintenance details.
The initial OPEN100 plans introduced in February 2020 called for a 100-megawatt
pressurized water reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada).
In a PWR, water is used both as ...
that could be built in 18 months at a cost of $300 million (
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
).
Regulatory restrictions could increase those numbers in practice.
OPEN100 was developed by EIC in partnership with the
United States Department of Energy national laboratories and other collaborators, including
Framatome
Framatome () is a French nuclear reactor business. It is owned by Électricité de France (EDF) (80.5%) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (19.5%).
The company first formed in 1958 to license Westinghouse's pressurized water reactor (PWR) designs ...
, the
Electric Power Research Institute, and the U.K.'s
National Nuclear Laboratory.
In July 2021,
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
's Transcorp Energy announced that it would develop nuclear power plants in the country using the OPEN100 model.
Nuclear Energy Grand Challenge
The Nuclear Energy Grand Challenge is a prize competition that was initially envisioned as a series of ongoing contests to develop proposals for mitigating the cost, duration, and risks of nuclear power plant construction and maintenance.
The initial challenge, known as "Reimagining Nuclear Waste," took place at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in 2019 and 2020 and asked students to develop business proposals that offered new solutions for nuclear waste beyond indefinite storage.
The winning team was awarded $17,000 for its proposal.
Podcasts
EIC produces two podcasts: ''Titans of Nuclear''
and ''Energy Impact''.
''Titans of Nuclear'' was first launched in January 2018
and generally features one-on-one discussions
with nuclear energy experts
from various political, scientific, technological, and business backgrounds.
The ''Energy Impact'' podcast was launched in March 2021 and features discussions on a broader range of energy-related topics. Both podcasts are primarily hosted by EIC managing director, Bret Kugelmass, but other EIC members serve as occasional co-hosts.
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
Official websiteOPEN100''Titans of Nuclear''
Nuclear research institutes
Research institutes established in 2017
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Energy research institutes