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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.
Thursday, July 20, 2023|12:30–5:30PM EDT
Leaving from the Knoxville Convention Center
SOLD OUT
Bus will pick up at the Convention Center: Clinch Avenue Entrance, please arrive to this location at 12:15pm to pick up lunch before getting on the bus.
Price: $50 a person
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the world’s premier research institution, empowering leaders and teams to pursue breakthroughs in an environment marked by operational excellence and engagement with the communities where we live and work.
ORNL Tour Agenda:Leave Hilton at 1:00pm1:45–2:00pm Bus arrives ORNL2:00– 3:00pm High Flux Isotope Reactor and Radio Chemical Engineering and Development Center3:10 – 3:30pm Board bus en route to Visitors Center and Walk en route to Frontier/Summit3:30 – 4:00pm Tour Frontier 4:00 – 4:10pm Walk en route to Visitors Center to board bus to Graphite Reactor4:20 – 4:50pm Tour Graphite ReactorBack to Hilton at 5:30pmHigh Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR)Operating at 85 MW, HFIR is the highest flux reactor-based source of neutrons for research in the United States, and it provides one of the highest steady-state neutron fluxes of any research reactor in the world. The thermal and cold neutrons produced by HFIR are used to study physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, and biology. Learn more
Radio Chemical Engineering and Development Center (REDC)At the REDC experts in radiochemical processing use specialized equipment and systems to produce unique radioisotopes for applications in research, national security, medicine, space exploration, and industry. Learn more
Frontier Tour
ORNL has decades of experience in delivering, operating, and conducting research on world-leading supercomputers. Frontier has leveraged ORNL’s extensive experience and expertise in GPU-accelerated computing to become the US Department of Energy’s next record-breaking supercomputer and the world’s first exascale system. Learn more
Graphite Reactor
During the 20 years the Graphite Reactor operated—from 1943 to 1963—it continued its pioneering role. It is the oldest reactor in the world. Watch and read more.
Note: Because of the construction close to the GR, the bus will have to drop guests off at the bottom of Hill Avenue, about a 2–3-minute walk up the hill. Please consider.
