Nuclear Energy Dominance: Can the US do it Alone?

Event: Nuclear Energy Dominance: Can the U.S. Do It Alone?

Date: March 26-27, 2026

Location: MIT Campus

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Thursday, March 26

INTRO: 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM

The Vision for a “Free-World Nuclear Team” to counter Russia’s and China’s current dominance of nuclear export markets (Prof. JACOPO BUONGIORNO, MIT)

HOST: Prof. JACOPO BUONGIORNO (MIT)

SESSION 1: 9:00 AM -12:00 PM

The International Dimension and Alliances: Must-Haves and Nice-to-Haves (Dr. ANNA BROUGHEL, Johns Hopkins University and U.S. Association for Energy Economics)

1. U.S.-Canada (JACQUES BESNAINOU, Westinghouse)
2. U.S.-South Korea (FLORENCE LOWE-LEE, GABI)
3. U.S.-India (JASKIRAT GHOTRA, Larsen-Toubro)
4. U.S. Government perspective (JUSTIN FRIEDMAN, U.S. State Dept.)
5. Time to Resurrect the Idea of Shared Fuel Cycle Strategies/Facilities (enrichment, LEU reserves, HLW repositories) (RAULI PARTANEN, DeepGEO)

LUNCH: 12:30 PM -1:30 PM

SESSION 2: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Getting Things Going at Home (Prof. CURTIS SMITH, MIT)

1. Leveraging the USG Power of Procurement (DOD, TVA, NASA, etc.) (Dr. JOHN PARSONS, MIT)
2. Support by Individual States: TX, WY, TN (DANIELLE ZIGON, UT-Austin)
3. Financing: Where Will the Money Come From? (PAUL MURPHY)
4. Transforming the NRC into an Enabling Regulator (Hon. JEFFREY MERRIFIELD, Pillsbury Law)
5. A New Branding, Marketing and Media Approach for Nuclear (RANDY FREER and ROB FREDA, MIT)
   

DINNER: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

SPEAKER: DR. RAJA ABDUL AZIZ RAJA ADNAN
Board Member, Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board
Former Director General, Department of Atomic Energy of Malaysia
Former Director for Nuclear Security, IAEA
Former Special Assistant to the Director General for Nuclear Sciences and Applications, IAEA

Friday, March 27 

SESSION 3: 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Choosing the Right Techs and Business Models to Realize Meaningful Deployment (Chair: KOROUSH SHIRVAN)

1. What Reactor Technologies are Credibly Ready to Deploy at Commercial Scale within the Next 5 Years? (Prof. KOROUSH SHIRVAN, MIT)
2. Status of the Nearest New Commercial Nuclear Reactor Project in North America: Darlington (OPG)
3. How to Rebuild the U.S. Supply Chain?  (AHMET TOKPINAR, Bechtel)
4. How Can ROK Support U.S. Deployment? (Hyundai)
5. Use Cases: Data Centers and Oil/Gas  (TBD)