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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
Tuesday, June 18, 2024|1:00–2:45PM PDT|Palm B
Session Chair:
Aslak Stubsgaard
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
David S. Grabaskas
To access paper attachments, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
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Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Approaches to Safety Analysis and Classification for Microreactors
1:00–1:20PM PDT
Alan Smith (Oklo Inc.), Patrick Everett (Oklo Inc.), Kellen McCarroll (Oklo Inc.), Alex Renner (Oklo Inc.)
Paper
Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees)
Application of a Qualitative Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Approach for the MARVEL Microreactor at the Idaho National Laboratory
1:20–1:40PM PDT
Doug Gerstner (INL), Jason Andrus (INL), Amanda Foley (INL), Troy Reiss (INL)
Reducing the Maintenance Cost of Advanced Nuclear Reactors under Risk Constraints through Condition Monitoring, Probabilistic Risk Assessment, and Maintenance Optimization
1:40–2:00PM PDT
Yunfei Zhao (Univ. Maryland)
Addressing Uncertainties Across All Design Stages of Advanced Reactors Development
2:00–2:20PM PDT
Rawan Mustafa (NCSU), Mostafa Hamza (NCSU), Yahya A. Alzahrani (NCSU), Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)
Risk Informed Material Categorization
2:20–2:40PM PDT
Brian Kloiber (Oklo Inc.)
