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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Latest News
Valar’s Ward 250 reaches criticality in Utah
El Segundo, Calif.–based start-up Valar Atomics has taken its Ward 250 test reactor critical at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), becoming the second company in the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program to reach the milestone, and, according to the DOE, the first to do so outside a national laboratory.
The DOE celebrated the achievement in a June 18 announcement, describing it as a "zero-power fueled criticality demonstration." The news follows a similar update for Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor, which the DOE said achieved criticality at Idaho National Laboratory earlier this month.
Advanced Reactor Safety (ARS)
Technical Session|Panel
Monday, June 17, 2024|3:15–5:00PM PDT|Palm B
Session Chair:
Matthew D. Bucknor
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Koroush Shirvan
Advanced reactor development offers the opportunity to re-evaluate site and facility security approaches in the U.S. and abroad. Given the differences between most advanced reactors and the existing large light water fleet, novel approaches such as risk-informed security-by-design (SeBD) and safety-and security-by-design (SSeBD) concepts provide reactor designers the ability to directly incorporate security features into their designs while crediting enhanced safety, security, lower risk profiles, smaller radiological source terms, and compact modular designs. This panel will provide perspectives from safety and security experts who will describe their current work in these areas.
Ben Cipiti
Sandia
Jorge Navarro
NNSA/DOE
Brian Kloiber
Oklo
Steve Reed
ORNL