A Q&A with Hauck highlights ORNL's role driving innovation in next-generation reactors
After nearly two decades in the U.S. and international nuclear industry, Gale Hauck has turned her experience toward shaping its future. The veteran engineer, now at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is helping to guide the transition from large light water reactors to advanced reactor technologies that will define the next era of nuclear energy.
At ORNL, Hauck serves as senior R&D staff for Innovative Nuclear Reactors and as the system integration and analysis lead for the DOE Microreactor Program. Hauck has also served in a one-year detail as senior technical advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy and is currently pursuing her doctorate in energy science and engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Q: What have we learned over the last 80 years that is informing the nuclear industry of today?
A: The nuclear industry has evolved over the last 80 years. We’ve built many reactors, explored a variety of designs and ultimately perfected the large light water reactor model, which remains the backbone of the industry today. Along the way, we’ve learned critical lessons about safety, materials and reliability that continue to inform how we design, operate and regulate nuclear systems. That accumulated knowledge is the foundation we’re building on as we look toward next-generation technologies.
Q: What advances can the nuclear industry expect in the next 20 years?
A: Over the next 20 years, we’re going to see much greater variety in reactor designs, with a strong shift toward advanced concepts that use different fuels, coolants and moderators.
We’ll also see significant advancements in accident-tolerant fuels and enhanced safety systems, which are currently being developed at ORNL. For a time, those concepts were set aside in favor of standardizing large light water reactors, largely for economic and regulatory reasons. But with new priorities, policies and market drivers, we’re now seeing a return to these innovative technologies — proving that, in some ways, what’s old is new again.
Q: How can stronger partnerships with the national labs accelerate the nuclear industry’s deployment goals?
A: National laboratories — especially ORNL — play an essential role in moving nuclear innovation from research to reality. At ORNL, I’ve had the opportunity to support the microreactor program and advanced reactors more broadly. Our work focuses on reducing barriers to deployment, developing the tools and infrastructure that all vendors can benefit from, and ensuring that a wide range of technologies have the support they need to move forward. Stronger partnerships with the national labs are essential, because they provide a foundation that accelerates innovation and enables deployment at scale across the industry.
Q: How does your role at ORNL support the deployment of next generation nuclear reactors?
A: I’m involved in many different efforts across ORNL, but the common thread is that my work sits at the intersection of technical innovation and policy development. I focus on interdisciplinary, socio-technical issues that directly affect deployment and development of advanced reactors. It’s important to me that the excellent research being done at the lab doesn’t just sit on the shelf. I translate our work into formats that are useful for decision makers — shaping policies, guiding regulatory changes and supporting real-world deployment. In other words, my role is about bridging research with application, so that what we do at the lab actively advances the nuclear industry.
Q: What is important to consider in ensuring the U.S. nuclear industry stays competitive in the decades ahead?
A: To stay competitive, the U.S. must continue to lead not only in technology development, but in communicating the importance of that technology and building the relationships that ensure it can be deployed globally.
The U.S. has an extraordinary legacy in nuclear energy — the industry itself has foundations at ORNL’s Graphite Reactor, known historically as X-10 during the Manhattan Project. Many of the technologies used worldwide today were first developed in the U.S. In fact, much of what we now call ‘advanced reactor concepts’ are designs that were pioneered here decades ago. Continued leadership means streamlining the pathways for exporting and licensing technologies, incorporating safeguards by design, and supporting international capacity-building.
I’ve been fortunate to contribute to this effort through programs with the Department of State that are strengthening partnerships and expand access to U.S. expertise, and by engaging in international forums like the UN Conference of the Parties meetings to showcase our nuclear technology, workforce development, and world-class research. If we continue to invest in innovation, policy and partnerships, the U.S. can maintain its role as a global leader in nuclear energy for decades to come.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
