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Congressional Update NEI Washington International Reps Meeting January 9, 2014. Hon. Bill Foster U.S. Congressman (IL-11). One of two Physicists in Congress. One of 108 Members of Congress with a business background. Bill Foster’s Business Career: Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.
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Congressional UpdateNEI Washington International Reps MeetingJanuary 9, 2014 Hon. Bill Foster U.S. Congressman (IL-11)
One of two Physicists in Congress One of 108 Members of Congress with a business background
Bill Foster’s Business Career:Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. • Co-founded 1974 with brother Fred Foster • Bill was 19, Fred 17 • Initial Capitalization: $500 from our parents. • ETC now manufactures ~70% of all Theatre Lighting Equipment in U.S. • $150M+ sales/year • 650+ Employees • Fred runs business (Bill bought out in 2007)
Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.Today 650+ Employees in Middleton, WI
Fermilab’sAcceleratorsPast,Present,and Future Dr. G. William Foster November 8, 2002
CDF Detector DiscoveredTop Quark
Antiproton Recycler Ring FermilabMain Injector
A: The Familial Recessive Gene for Adult-Onset Political Activism • Bill Got Married, • Raised a Family, • Had a reasonably interesting career in Physics & Business. So: why go into politics?
Bill’s Mother and Father Jeanette Raymond and George William Foster Met on Capitol Hill ~1950 Bill’s Mom worked for Sen. Paul Douglas (D-IL)
What Life as a Congressman is Really Like • Scheduled 12 Hours each day • Read myself to sleep each night with a ¾” stack of papers… • Live in a Crummy Efficiency Apartment in DC • After last votes on Friday, come back home each weekend (where I get scheduled up by the staff in the Illinois District Office…)
So, why does anyone take this job? Voting Machine in the U.S. House of Representatives
Benefits of Nuclear Energy • Reduction of carbon emissions is an important part of future climate protection • 62.45% of clean energy generation in the US is nuclear • Nuclear energy provides 20% of United States energy • Nuclear energy is reliable power, available 24/7 Source: Exelon Source: IAEA
Challenges to Nuclear • Natural gas prices have dropped due to large domestic reserves from shale formations • Surplus supply of electricity leads to periodically negative electrical prices • Nuclear reactors provide constant energy – cannot shut off • Four reactors permanently closed in 2013, with another projected to close by the end of 2014 • Nuclear power can become economically viable in the future if a carbon tax or a “cap-and-trade” system is imposed Source: NEI Frequency of negative prices increasing with increased wind generation
Current Activities in Nuclear Energy • $21.5M FY2014 request for Nuclear Energy's Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) • DOE R&D program to extend operating life of current nuclear power plants • DOE $8 billion loan guarantee program for construction and operation of new reactors at Vogtle • 2 new nuclear reactors projected to open ~2017-2018 • Investment in university R&D for new and advanced technology • NEUP and IUP (Dept. of Energy) has awarded $290M to 89 schools since FY09 • 5600 MW new nuclear energy capacity online by 2018 • 5 new nuclear reactors (including Vogtle) online by 2018 • DOE granted $450 million to Babcock & Wilcox and NuScale for SMR commercialization • New EPA regulations on carbon emissions may be beneficial to Nuclear Vogtle – August 2013 Source: Georgia Power Co Source: DOE
On-Going R&D DOE Emphasis: Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) • Examples: NuScale, mPower, PRISM, Westinghouse, Travelling Wave, etc Many different reactor types being researched: • High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGC) • Fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactors (FHR) • Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) • Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) • Very-High-Temperature Reactor (VHTR) • Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) • Supercritical-Water-Cooled Reactor (SCWR) • Gen III+ Light Water Reactor Source: B&W Source: GE Source: NuScale
Recent U.S. Economic History • 1992-2000 • Strong Economic and jobs growth • Paying down debt (- $200B/yr) • 2001-2008 • Deregulation, job stagnation and collapse • Explosion of Federal Deficit ( $1,200B/yr) • 2009-2013 • Reversal of Collapse and Gradual Recovery • Halving of Federal Deficit ( $600M/yr)
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