Symposium on Nuclear Everywhere

MEETING HANDOUTS

Event: Nuclear Everywhere? How new technologies, regulations and policies may finally make the use of nuclear energy mainstream and ubiquitous
Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 - 09:00 to Wednesday, March 29, 2023 - 12:30
Location: MIT Campus, Building 34, Room 101 (50 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139)
Map:
Symposium Map - QR Code (Enter 34 in search bar)

PROGRAM

TUESDAY, MARCH 28

8:30-9:00 – CHECK-IN (Building 34-101 Lobby)

9:00-9:20 – Greetings

  • Ben Forget, Associate Dept. Head, Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT
  • Bob Armstrong, Director, MIT Energy Initiative

9:20-9:50 – Symposium Intro & Objectives

  • Jacopo Buongiorno, Director, Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), MIT

KEYNOTE
9:50-10:10 – Will SMRs succeed? Requirements for new nuclear technologies in the market place 

  • Maria Korsnick, President and Chief Executive Officer, NEI

SESSION 1: New Markets and Applications
Chair: John Parsons, Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management, MIT

  • 10:10-10:30 – Nuclear hydrogen is already here (Ugi Otgonbaatar, Director of Technology Strategy, Constellation)
  • 10:30-10:50 – Nuclear biofuels: a potential game changer (Charles Forsberg, Principal Research Scientist, MIT)

10:50-11:10 – COFFEE BREAK

11:10-12:30 – Nuclear energy comes to campus. A panel-style discussion on decarbonization of college campuses and technology microreactors.
Chair: Lance Snead, Director of Strategic Development, Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, MIT

  • Panelists:
  • Jean Paul Allain, Head, Nuclear Engineering Dept., Penn State University
  • Seungjin Kim, Head, Nuclear Engineering Dept., Purdue University
  • Rusty Towell, Professor, Engineering and Physics Dept. and Director, NEXT Lab, Abilene Christian University
  • Caleb Brooks, Associate Professor of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, UIUC
  • Yasir Arafat, MARVEL Chief Designer, Idaho National Laboratory
  • Janine Helwig, Director of Utilities, MIT

LUNCH
12:30-1:30 –  "The Kärnfull Way – Lessons learned from the Nordics"

  • Speaker: John Ahlberg, Founder, Kärnfull Group

SESSION 2: Enabling Technologies
Chair: Koroush Shirvan, Associate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT

  • 1:30-1:50 – Advanced Manufacturing, Passive Safety Systems, Compact heat exchangers, state-of-the-art BOP (Koroush Shirvan, MIT)
  • 1:50-2:10 – Advanced Fuels and Moderators (Ellen Cerreta, Associate Laboratory Director, Physical Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory)
  • 2:10-2:30 – Life cycle assessment of graphite including disposal (Lance Snead, Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, MIT)

2:30-2:50 – COFFEE BREAK

  • 2:50-3:10 – 2D and 3D seismic isolation of buildings and equipment (Andrew Whittaker, Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Buffalo)
  • 3:10-3:30 – Technology synergies with fusion (Steve Zinkle, Professor of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee at Knoxville)

4:15-5:30 – MIT REACTOR TOUR AND SIMULATOR

BANQUET DINNER at Samberg Center
6:00-9:30 – "Re-Establishing U. S. Leadership in Nuclear Energy"

Speaker: Rian Bahran, Assistant Director, Nuclear Technology & Strategy, White House Office of Science, Technology and Policy (OSTP)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29

SESSION 3:  Regulations, Policy and Geopolitical Context

9:00-10:45 – Is the US Government doing enough to enable a substantial expansion of the domestic nuclear industry? A panel-style discussion on nuclear R&D, regulations and export.
Chair: Lin-wen Hu, Senior Scientist, Nuclear Reactor Lab, MIT

  • Panelists:
  • Alison Hahn, Director for Nuclear Reactor Deployment, Office of Nuclear Energy, US Department of Energy
  • Jeff Chamberlin, Assistant Deputy Administrator, Office of Material Management and Minimization, NNSA
  • John Kotek, Senior Vice President, Policy Development and Public Affairs, NEI ​
  • Rita Baranwal, Chief Technology Officer, Westinghouse Electric Company
  • Edward Blandford, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Kairos Power

10:45-11:00 – COFFEE BREAK

11:00-12:30 – Fuel and waste: where do we stand?  A panel-style discussion on HALEU, new fuel forms and HLW management for existing and new nuclear reactors
Chair: Haruko Wainwright, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT

  • Panelists:
  • Monica Regalbuto, Director, Nuclear Fuel Cycle Strategy, Idaho National Laboratory
  • David Sassani, National Technical Director, Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technlogy, Sandia National Laboratories
  • Jose Reyes, Chief Technology Officer, NuScale
  • Bret van den Akker, Director of Fuel Cycle Innovation, USNC
  • Jorge Narvaez, General Engineer, Office of Integrated Waste Management, US Department of Energy

12:30 – Adjourn

Download the  program

Events: 

Tuesday, March 28, 2023 - 09:00 to Wednesday, March 29, 2023 - 12:30

Event Location: 

MIT Campus