Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems(CANES)

The Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the MIT Energy Laboratory established the MIT Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES) in September 2000 with the late Prof. Mujid Kazimi serving as the first Director. The Center aims to create concepts for nuclear energy systems that promise favorable economics, reliability and environmental sustainability. The Center's programs involve development and application of methods, materials and technologies for the design, operation, and regulation of current and advanced nuclear reactors and fuel cycles. This requires advances in knowledge about traditional scientific and technical disciplines, modern methods of systems reliability, probabilistic safety analysis and decision analysis, and human interactions and management science.

Under the directorship of Jacopo Buongiorno, TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, the Center seeks to broaden the application of nuclear energy to all sectors of the global economy with an emphasis on decarbonization and cost competitiveness. The Center celebrated its 20th anniversary, September 2020, and continues to be an integral part of the MIT energy community as a research hub that brings together a diverse group of faculty across the Institute, as well as domestic and international industry, government, laboratories, and leading organizations to collaborate on nuclear energy initiatives.