Dairyland EVP & CSO Kevin Nordt Participates in UW Madison's Forward in Energy Forum Panel

Dairyland EVP & Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Nordt participated in a panel discussion on nuclear energy called Wisconsin Goes Nuclear, which took place on Oct. 28 at UW-Madison's Forward in Energy Forum.

Nordt, who attended graduate school at UW-Madison studying nuclear energy, joined Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering and chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics Paul Wilson, Senator Julian Bradley (R-New Berlin), chair of the Committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism, and Robb Hughes, head of external affairs at Realta Fusion.

The discussion focused on the role of nuclear in the state's energy landscape including advanced nuclear technologies and how communities and stakeholders can move expansion of nuclear energy forward.

Wilson, a leader in nuclear energy research, moderated the discussion.

"As someone who's being keen to have dialogues about energy and nuclear energy in particular, I've long lamented that energy has kind of been off the political radar screen in this state for some time, and so it's exciting to me to see it coming back as we see a lot of new opportunities emerging," Wilson said in kicking off the discussion.

Senator Bradley talked about how the topic of nuclear energy has inspired productive, results-driven discussions with support on both sides of the aisle, and from the governor's office, which led to the passage of a resolution and legislation aimed at laying the groundwork for expanding the state's nuclear energy portfolio.

"There's a huge level of excitement and it's a lot of fun to be able to talk about, because everybody really understands that this is the future. When you talk about AI and you talk about the demands on energy and all of the things that we want to power our economy, you can't do it without starting to talk about nuclear energy."

Nordt noted that Dairyland became an early pioneer of nuclear energy with the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor, one of the first experimental reactors in the nation.

He also talked about the growing demand for electricity and the current challenge of accurately predicting what the demand will actually be, with the swift and unprecedented expansion of data centers and other compounding factors, but he said even a fraction of the predicted growth is still "pretty substantial."

"So how do we do that, especially when folks want a reliable grid, and affordable price?" he said. "Power customers by and large are seeking to have decarbonized power, and advanced nuclear really fits the bill for this. It's a tremendous opportunity, a kind of once-in-a-generation or more type of opportunity."

Nordt discussed the benefits of small modular reactors (SMRs). "These are modular scalable and are a very good resource alternative, where the development time is likely quicker and they are placed in service along with the band growth, so that takes a lot of risk off of the energy companies, who ultimately pass that on to the consumers, which is a good thing," he said.

Hughes talked about Realta Fusion, a commercial fusion energy startup based in Madison. He said the cost to bring their product to a commercially-viable position will be at least $2 billion, but he said the company could build its first energy-producing fusion plant within the next ten years.

"The nuclear industry has got to get moving," Nordt said. "The rest of the world is not standing still."

Earlier this year, Governor Tony Evers signed two bipartisan bills aimed at positioning the state as a leader in next-generation nuclear power. These statutes direct the state to conduct a nuclear siting study and establish a nuclear power summit in Wisconsin to advance the state's leadership and innovation.

Watch the nuclear panel discussion in full here.

(WECA Condenser)