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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
Standards Program
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ANS Winter Conference: DOE, NRC leaders stress need for speedier nuclear approval
David Wright
Chris Wright
During speeches at the American Nuclear Society’s Winter Conference & Expo, happening this week in Washington, D.C., Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair David Wright both promised that the Trump administration will speed up nuclear reviews so the U.S. can maintain leadership in nuclear energy.
The DOE’s Wright took a stab at the NRC’s traditionally slow bureaucratic processes in approving primarily large light water reactors in the past, saying that the agency needs to speed up to meet the greater demand for new small modular reactors.
Advanced Reactor Safety (ARS)
Technical Session|Panel
Monday, June 17, 2024|3:15–5:00PM PDT|Palm A
Session Chair:
David S. Grabaskas
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Matthew D. Bucknor
The U.S. nuclear industry is currently in the middle of a historic shift towards the utilization of risk-informed performance-based (RIPB) design and licensing approaches. Moving from a supporting role, RIPB methods are now leading key reactor decision-making. Such methods permit flexibility and encourage consistency between the plant’s risk profile and appropriate design and licensing actions. However, RIPB approaches are not without their difficulties, including the need for detailed probabilistic assessments and addressing a lack of historic precedent in many areas. This panel explores the current transition to RIPB approaches, including efforts that are currently underway, plans for the future, and hurdles to overcome.
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