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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
Wednesday, June 19, 2024|1:00–2:45PM PDT|Palm B
Session Chair:
Robert W. Youngblood (INL)
Alternate Chair:
Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)
Session Organizer:
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Advancing SAPHIRE: Transitioning from Legacy to State-of-Art Excellence
1:00–1:20PM PDT
Stephen T. Wood (INL), Jordan T. Boyce (INL), Egemen M. Aras (NCSU), Asmaa S. Farag (NCSU), Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)
Paper
Enhancing the SAPHIRE Solve Engine: Initial Progress and Efforts
1:20–1:40PM PDT
Egemen M. Aras (NCSU), Stephen T. Wood (INL), Jordan T. Boyce (INL), Asmaa S. Farag (NCSU), Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)
Introducing OpenPRA's Quantification Engine: Exploring Capabilities, Recognizing Limitations, and Charting the Path to Enhancement
1:40–2:00PM PDT
Egemen M. Aras (NCSU), Arjun Earthperson (NCSU), Hasibul H. Rasheeq (NCSU), Asmaa S. Farag (NCSU), Stephen T. Wood (INL), Jordan T. Boyce (INL), Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)
Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees)
OpenMHA: Open-Source Code for Creating Multi-Hazards Logic and Area PRA Models Considering Aging of SSCs
2:00–2:20PM PDT
Akram S. Batikh (NCSU), Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)
Evaluating PRA Tools for Accurate and Efficient Quantifications: A Follow-Up Benchmarking Study Including FTREX
2:20–2:40PM PDT
Asmaa Farag (NCSU), S. Ted Wood (INL), Arjun Earthperson (NCSU), Egemen M. Aras (INL), Jordan T. Boyce (INL), Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)