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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Center for Used Fuel Research: Building confidence in storage and transport
Used nuclear fuel storage and transportation have reached a critical juncture.
Dozens of utilities need reliable data on how used nuclear fuel performs in dry storage casks and canisters to extend regulatory licenses at sites across the United States. Likewise, the Department of Energy expects to take ownership of the used nuclear fuel—termed “spent nuclear fuel” in the laws and regulations governing its stewardship—and transfer it to one or more federal staging facilities for management and disposition.
Meanwhile, dozens of reactor companies are testing prototypes of advanced reactors and advanced reactor fuels. Eventually, regulators and industry must also verify the safety and security of storage methods for these advanced fuel types.
To help address these challenges, the DOE established the Center for Used Fuel Research (CUFR) in January 2026 for work related to the long-term storage and transport of used nuclear fuel.
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by RPD
Tuesday, June 13, 2023|1:00–2:45PM EDT|California
Session Chair:
Syed Bahauddin Alam (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Session Organizer:
According to both U.S. NRC and DOE, the nuclear industry has yet to fully leverage the recent advances in machine learning/artificial intelligence (ML/AI) techniques, and Digital Twin (DT) will play a significant role in risk-informed decision-making in this regard. For example, "NRC FY2021-23 Planned Research Activities" and "NRC Future Focused Research" state that "Methodology and Evaluation Tools for Digital Twin Applications" is one of the top priority strategic areas. However, the major challenges related to DT include but are not limited to (a) Incorporating trustworthy data analytics algorithm, (b) Treatment of noisy or erroneous data and data unavailability, (c) Uncertainty quantification, (d) Robust optimization, and (e) Update module in DT by solving the "On-the-fly Inverse Problem." This session will discuss the DT-enabling technologies and components for nuclear systems.
Syed Bahaudin Alam
Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Prashant Jain
ORNL
Zahra Mohaghegh
Tanwi Mallick
ANL