087 Grace Vanderhei, Nuclear Engineer and Public Speaker
What does it actually take to build the next generation of nuclear? Grace Vanderhei is a nuclear fuels engineer and clean energy advocate at Constellation, where she is working on the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1, now the Christopher Crane Clean Energy Center. She joins Mark Hinaman for a conversation that moves from the technical realities of restarting a nuclear plant to the people, processes, and public trust needed to build the industry back up. Grace explains what nuclear fuel engineering actually looks like day to day, from core design and reloads to the unusual challenges of putting an all-fresh-fuel core into a reactor that has been shut down for years. She shares lessons from the Crane restart, including how the industry is drawing on experience from Vogtle 3 & 4, and why good documentation becomes incredibly important when decades of plant-specific knowledge can disappear. The conversation also explores the less technical side of nuclear: communicating with the public, working with regulators, recruiting the next generation, and making space for people who don't fit the traditional image of a nuclear engineer. Grace shares her own experience being told she shouldn't become an engineer, why resilience matters more than having a perfect résumé, and why she believes the best way to bring young people into STEM is to start with their mission and help them find the passion that supports it. Finally, Grace looks ahead at what she hopes the nuclear industry accomplishes over the next 10–30 years—from extending and improving the existing fleet to deploying advanced reactors and ultimately doubling US nuclear generation. Her message is straightforward: the industry can build nuclear successfully, but it needs to demonstrate a pattern of projects delivered on time and on budget and rebuild public trust along the way.