Nuclear energy leaders from across the country and world converged on West Lafayette Wednesday to reenergize an industry they hope will meet booming energy needs.

“Now’s the time. Indiana is the place,” said Indiana Energy and Natural Resources Secretary Suzanne Jaworowski. The state is “ready, and willing, and able to deploy nuclear.”

She spoke on the first of a two-day Global Nuclear Energy Economic Summit at Purdue University’s Loeb Playhouse, which was the launchpad for a flurry of announcements.

There, AES Indiana President Brandi Davis-Handy announced the company — one of the state’s “big five” investor-owned electric utilities — would study the feasibility of building small modular reactors at its Eagle Valley and Petersburg power plants.

The analysis will look at licensing,

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