International Conference on Physics of Reactors 2024 Plenary SPeaker

James Vollmer

Senior Manager

Fuel Development & Qualification

TerraPower

James Vollmer has worked the past twelve years at TerraPower in several different roles. He is currently the Senior Manager of Fuel Development & Qualification, where his group is responsible for fuel performance methods development and assessments, fuel fabrication development, and fuel testing and qualification activities to support the Natrium™ project. Prior to taking this role he has held a series of other management positions within TerraPower, including Senior Manager of Nuclear Design, Manager of Materials & Chemistry, and Manager of Fuel Development. Some key technical contributions James has made to TerraPower include 1) preparing the fuel qualification topical report for the Natrium plant, 2) preparing fuel qualification plans for the TWR-P and TWR-300 plants; 3) providing technical direction for the Molten Salt Reactor Experimental Vehicle (MSR-EV) design effort for the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR); and 4) supporting development of the advanced Type 1B (and Type 2) fuel designs including design, fabrication, and oversight of a series of irradiation tests in the Advanced Test Reactor.

Prior to joining TerraPower, Dr. Vollmer spent nine years at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, where he applied computational methods to support fuel fabrication, design, and performance activities for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. He received Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry, computer science, and mathematics from the College of the Ozarks, followed by a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Utah.