Ep 06: John Wagner, Idaho National Labs

In part 1 of  5 in our special INL series we interview John
Wagner, the Associate Laboratory Director of the Nuclear Science
and Technology Directorate. If you’re not familiar with the
structure of the National lab hierarchy… that title is a big
deal. In the first half of the episode we discuss:


 


John’s entrance into the field and early experience at Oak
Ridge National Labs

His expertise on developing new methods of understanding how
radiation moves through matter

He talks us through the basics of spent fuel management and a
briefer on the status of Yucca Mountain.

And in the second half we talk through the some of the
facilities at INL

John gives us an overview of the five different divisions
that fall under the Nuclear Science Directorate including:
“Domestic Programs”, “Nuclear Fuels and Materials” “Fuel Cycle
Technologies” “Nuclear Systems and Analysis” and “Regulatory
Safety” divisions

What role the INL plays in advising the NRC

The three buckets of Advanced Reactor Design and INL’s
history in facilitating R&D

He talks us through the concept of
transients and how INL tests them

We touch upon a topic that’s very important to me, Energy
Abundance

And we close out with a glimpse into some of the future work
INL and John’s perspective into the promise of Nuclear Energy on
the whole.