The "INL", mentioned in the following excerpt, is the Idaho National Laboratory.
"Focused on the theme Energizing the West, CSG-WEST delegates received a detailed briefing from INLs Richard Boardman on studies concerning converting coal to liquids and the key challenges associated with using Americas abundant coal resources in an environmentally conscious manner."
Contact info for Boardman, and others, at the INL are available on their site.
We'll see if we can find some other links and info to send along, but one of their focus areas is the development of a nuclear generating unit to provide the power needed by a coal-to-liquid/gas conversion plant.
Key point: They are at work, not on the technology of coal conversion, but on the integral details of powering CTL plants; putting it all together.