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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Integrating Waste Management for Advanced Reactors: The Universal Canister System and Project UPWARDS
When the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy launched the Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems (ONWARDS) program in 2022, it posed a challenge that the nuclear industry had never seriously confronted before: how to design waste management solutions that anticipate the coming shift to advanced reactors and not merely retrofit existing systems built for an older generation of technology. The program’s objectives were ambitious—reduce disposal footprint, enable scalable pathways for unfamiliar waste streams, and build the technical foundations for future disposal—yet also tightly grounded in the realities of emerging nuclear fuel cycles. For the nuclear community, this was a timely call. Advanced reactors were accelerating toward deployment, but the waste management systems needed to support them had not kept pace.
Technical Session|Panel|Advanced Reactors
Tuesday, July 22, 2025|2:30–3:45PM EDT|Bay Room
Session Chair:
Kevin T. Clarno
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
William F. Lyon
Advanced reactors are being developed that will need innovative fuel, such as TRISO and metallic fuel. This panel will address the challenges of obtaining this fuel and qualifications of the fuel. What fuel fabrication facilities are planned, and what is needed to license these new fuels with the NRC? How long will it take before this fuel is ready and what can be done to speed up the process?
Kevin Clarno
Univ. of Texas at Austin
William Lyon
Oklo, Inc.
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