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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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RIC session focuses on interagency collaboration
Attendees at last week’s 2026 Regulatory Information Conference, hosted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, saw extensive discussion of new reactor technologies, uprates, fusion, multiunit deployments, supply chain, and much more.
With the industry in a state of rapid evolution, there was much to discuss. Connected to all these topics was one central theme: the ongoing changes at the NRC. With massively shortened timelines, the ADVANCE Act and Executive Order 14300, and new interagency collaboration and authorization pathways in mind, speakers spent much of the RIC exploring what the road ahead looks like for the NRC.
Technical Session|Panel
Tuesday, February 4, 2025|3:20–5:00PM EST|Cumberland A
Session Chair:
Drew Thomas (INL)
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Olivia Blackmon (ORAU)
Community colleges have played a critical role in training the nuclear energy workforce and supporting emerging educational needs both from a regional and national standpoint. In 2007, the U.S. nuclear industry established the Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program to support standardization of curriculum supported by industry. The success of NUCP resulted in numerous programs and the reinvigoration of interest in nuclear energy training within the community college system. Since 2007, programs supporting NUCP have continued to decline as the nuclear workforce landscape has shifted in a variety of ways. This panel will explore the origins and history of the NUCP, lessons learned from experiences of the 2000's and 2010's, and discuss what it takes to create viable and long-term workforce pathways, challenges around creating those pathways, and emerging workforce needs for next-generation nuclear reactor development.
Mark Verbeck
TerraPower
Kevin Cooper
Indian River State College
Olivia Blackmon
ORAU
Jesus Mota
Columbia Basin College
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Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees) — ORAU
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