Six  members of Governor Sherrill's Nuclear Policy Task Force are among the featured speakers for a full-day conference focused on the fiscal, regulatory and environmental challenges facing state government and industry leaders as they seek to build new full-sized or Small Modular Reactors (SMRs )to generate the electricity needed to meet rising demand.

Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy, who co-chairs the Governor's task force, will deliver the luncheon keynote. Ed Potosnak, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection; Evan Weiss, CEO of the  Economic Development Authority; Colin Emerle, Senior Counsel, Office of the Governor, Counsel to Task Force;  Charles McFeaters, President and Chief Nuclear Officer, PSEG Nuclear; and Patrick O'Brien, Director of Government Affairs and Communications for Holtec, which is proposing to build SMRs at Oyster Creek in Ocean County, also serve on the task force and are among the featured panelists. Conference speakers also include: 

• Senator John Burzichelli (D-3), whose district includes the three PSEG Nuclear plants in Salem County;
• Assemblyman Gregory Myhre (R-Ocean), whose district includes Holtec’s Oyster Creek site;
• James Wyble III, Vice President, Americas Region, Westinghouse, and lead for AP1000 project development in North America; Victor Ibarra, Senior Manager, Advanced Nuclear Technology, Clean Air Task Force;
• Steve Sweeney, the former Ironworkers Union international vice president and Senate President; Daniel Cosner, President, Southern New Jersey Building Trades and Construction Council;
• Joe Checkley, International Representative, IBEW;
• Yolanda Mack, Ph.D.,Associate Dean for Workforce Development & Industry Partnerships, Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering,
• Howard Miller, Assistant Director, Business Engagement & Sector Strategies, NJ Department of Labor & Workforce Development;
• Ken Robell, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Salem Community College, which has run a nuclear technology training program in partnership with PSEG Nuclear since 2010;
• Erick Ford, President of the New Jersey Energy Policy Coalition.

Rowan President Ali A. Houshmand, Ph.D., Mack and Sweeney will deliver opening remarks. Moderators will include  Bob Gordon, former BPU Commissioner and state senator; Anthony Lowman, Ph.D., Rowan University Chancellor; Dr  Elizabeth Cooner, Executive Director, State Policy Lab, Office of the Secretary of Higher Education;Mark Magyar, Director, Sweeney Center for Public Policy, Rowan University; and Marie Casanova, Director of the Green Jobs Academy, Rowan University, and Co-Director of ROWEC, as well as Sweeney.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Sweeney Center and ROWEC (Rowan Energy Collaborative). ROWEC’s project on “Expanding New Jersey’s Nuclear Generation Capacity (see Expanding Nuclear Power in NJ ) received a seed funding grant from the State Policy Lab. Presenting preliminary findings will be   Eddie Guerra, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Strategic Sustainability and Engagement, School of Earth and Environment; Christopher Peters, Ph.D., Associate Teaching Professor in the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering; and five current Rowan students and recent graduates -- Ethan Cantor, Ladarion Hardison,  Daniel Carrasco, Fiona Currie and Maximilian Owens..

 

Attendance is free, and breakfast and lunch are included. To register for the conference, click here. For further information, contact Sweeney Center Director Mark Magyar at magyarm@rowan.edu.