Sessions

A wide variety of advanced reactor designs are being developed internationally. Advanced reactors will have simpler designs, be inherently and/or passively safe, and have an expected reduction in costs. Panel session discussions will focus on the various technologies and the challenges they are encountering, along with their timings for deployment.

 

 

A wide variety of advanced reactor designs are being developed internationally. Advanced reactors will have simpler designs, be inherently and/or passively safe, and have an expected reduction in costs. Panel session discussions will focus on the various technologies and the challenges they are encountering, along with their timings for deployment.

 

 

New reactor technologies approach safety in different ways, and it is important that the regulatory framework for these new designs can accommodate these different approaches while ensuring safety.

 

 

The rapid deployment of advanced reactors will require a change towards the international standardization of reactor designs and the harmonization of approaches to licensing, codes, and standards.

 

 

The fundamentally different approach to manufacturing Small Modular Reactors / Advanced Reactors will challenge both nuclear suppliers as well as regulators. In order for new nuclear reactors to scale at the pace necessary, improvements in construction approaches and techniques – many of which are already used in in other industries – will be needed.

 

 

As global energy demands rise and sustainability goals become more critical, industries must rethink how they power data centers, manufacturing plants, and large-scale facilities. This panel brings together experts in data centers, industrial operations, and combined heat and power (CHP), also known as co-generation to discuss innovative strategies for reducing carbon footprints, improving resiliency, and optimizing energy use, especially using small modular reactors and microreactors or other advanced reactors as co-generation sources.

 

 

The Nuclear Assurance panel will discuss possible programs for advanced reactors to include considerations for NQA-1 Code, ISO 9001, Graded Quality Assurance concepts and Commercial Grade Dedication. We expect discussion on NRC acceptance of QA program variations.

 

 

This panel examines cutting-edge developments in nuclear fuel technology, fuel recycling, storage and long-term radioactive waste management to support advanced reactor development and deployment as well as a sustainable nuclear energy future.

Key topics may include:

• Next-Generation Fuels: Innovations in fuel design (e.g. high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), TRISO particles, and metallic fuels for advanced reactors.
• Fuel Recycling & Closed Fuel Cycles: Advanced reprocessing techniques, transmutation of long-lived isotopes, and integration with fast reactors and molten salt reactors.
• Fuel Transportation, and Radwaste Management Strategies: Fuel Transportation, Progress in geological disposal, partitioning and transmutation, and interim storage solutions.
• Economic & Regulatory Challenges: Cost-benefit analysis of recycling vs. direct disposal, international waste management policies, and public acceptance.

In this panel session, experts will discuss fuel technological development, safe transportations, policy frameworks, and collaborative efforts to minimize waste, enhance resource utilization, and resolve practical challenges (economics, regulation, etc.).