Science Council For Global Initiatives Incorporated

Programs: Educate public/policy makers - scgi was once again involved in a wide range of activities spanning the globe in 2017. Scgis president, tom blees, participated in energy conferences with third way (a washington dc based bipartisan think tank), the us department of energy, the nuclear infrastructure council, and the uk-based nuclear energy insider. The latter engaged tom to organize and emcee their international nuclear energy conference in atlanta in march. These meetings clearly revealed a growing interest in advanced nuclear power systems, especially small modular reactors. Many of these developments were nicely captured by the documentary, the new fire, which debuted at indianas heartland film festival in october. Tom and other energy professionals, who had appeared in the documentary, attended a series of screenings and responded to questions from the audience. It lead to numerous conversations with attendees in the days that followed. The documentary is being enthusiastically received around the us. Blees met with a variety of politicians and their staff during the past year. Democratic senators cory booker and sheldon whitehouse continue to promote nuclear energy. Senator lisa murkowski of alaska was interested in learning about the potential role for thorcons ship-based nuclear power system. Toms intimate knowledge of both alaska and thorcon allowed him to provide detailed suggestions into how this system could help solve the special energy challenges of that states remote communities. Politicians seeking state offices, including some who are strong environmentalists, have also sought out blees for assistance in developing their energy policy platforms. The thorny nuclear vs. Renewables debate is an almost inescapable issue in political campaigns, one that was addressed head-on in a paper tom co-wrote with scgis barry brook and two other australian collaborators. It is available on scgis website.

international collaboration - scgi continues to be a highly respected source of objective information about both the latest developments in nuclear technology and the various public and private entities that are promoting them. As the president of an international organization that is not financially aligned with any one entity or technology, tom is appreciated as an honest consultant and insightful facilitator in international discussions. One of scgis founding members, dr. Evgeny velikov, a trusted advisor to gorbachev and subsequent russian presidents, continues to champion the need for such frank international communication in the development of nuclear energy and scgi continues to pursue this view despite current diplomatic tensions. In 2017, tom worked tirelessly around the world to bring together individuals and organizations interested in developing safe, affordable, and clean energy. In russia, he continued to serve on the selection committee for the global energy prize. He was also asked to moderate a panel on international nuclear power issues at atom expo, an annual nuclear conference held last year in moscow, and make presentations at the 2017 world expo in kazakhstan. Details of the latter are available on scgis website. In indonesia, blees met with a group interested in promoting thorcons nuclear reactor design to solve the energy challenges facing their island nation. He facilitated a meeting for them with high-level officials at the u. S. Department of energy in washington, d. C. And with engineers at argonne national laboratory. In response to inquiries from the united arab emirates, tom arranged a meeting between directors of their university and a prominent international attorney who specializes in negotiating nuclear energy contracts. Tom has also been working with contacts in india, china, and saudi arabia regarding their nuclear power ambitions. In summary, it is clear that the interest in nuclear energy is accelerating. Russia, china, south korea and france all plan to build nuclear power plants around the world.

other technologies and projects - one of the most promising technologies to advance in 2017 is a new, more efficient type of heat exchanger for power plants. It uses supercritical co2 instead of steam and is likely to double the current output of nearly any thermal power plant (coal, gas, or nuclear). It was designed by a british chemical engineer named rodney allam who in 2012 was selected by tom blees and the rest of the global energy prize committee for their annual prize. Blees has had the opportunity to monitor progress with this technology and is currently promoting a prototype being built in texas by netpower. Another technology that scgi has been promoting is the electric 18-wheel long haul truck. It has the potential to profoundly reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. Last year blees introduced the electric truck designer to a physicist developing the lithium-air battery, the holy grail of battery r&d.