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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|Fuel Management
Wednesday, July 23, 2025|8:00–9:40AM EDT|Beach Room
Session Chair:
Jason Hou
Alternate Chair:
Justin K. Watson
Session Organizer:
Scott P. Palmtag
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Python-based Reload Optimization Framework for SIMULATE-3 and Mlrose
8:00–8:25AM EDT
James W. Carnal (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Noah M. Marks (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), G. Ivan Maldonado (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville)
Paper
Core Design Optimization of a Soluble-Boron-Free Small Modular Pressurized Water Reactor with ROSA
8:25–8:50AM EDT
Henk P. M. Gibcus (NRG PALLAS), Bright M. Mweetwa (Bangor Univ.), Matteo Gamarino (NRG PALLAS), Frank C. M. Verhagen (NRG PALLAS), Pieter H. Wakker (NRG PALLAS), Marat Margulis (Univ. Derby)
A Parametric Study of Genetic Algorithm using IPWR Core Design
8:50–9:15AM EDT
Jake Mikouchi-Lopez (NCSU), Jaun C. Luque-Gutierrez (NCSU), Mitch Edney (NCSU), Jason Hou (NCSU)
Implementation of Fuel Management Capabilities for Multi-cycle Optimization in RAVEN
9:15–9:40AM EDT
Juan C. Luque-Gutierrez (NCSU), Junyung Kim (INL), Congjian Wang (INL), Nicholas Rollins (NCSU), Svetlana Lawrence (INL), Mohammad G. Abdo (INL), Jason Hou (NCSU)
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