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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Latest News
Valar’s Ward 250 reaches criticality in Utah
El Segundo, Calif.–based start-up Valar Atomics has taken its Ward 250 test reactor critical at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), becoming the second company in the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program to reach the milestone, and, according to the DOE, the first to do so outside a national laboratory.
The DOE celebrated the achievement in a June 18 announcement, describing it as a "zero-power fueled criticality demonstration." The news follows a similar update for Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor, which the DOE said achieved criticality at Idaho National Laboratory earlier this month.
2020 ANS Virtual Winter Meeting Plenary Session Speaker
Dr. David Kropaczek of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is the CASL Director and Deputy Technical Director for the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. He joined ORNL in 2018 after having served as CASL Chief Scientist and Professor of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University. Dr. Kropaczek has over 30 years of experience in the field of nuclear energy with a focus on computational methods development in the areas of nuclear fuel cycle optimization, reactor physics and thermal-hydraulics for both PWRs and BWRs. Previous experience included positions in both R&D and leadership within Westinghouse, General Electric, and most recently, Studsvik Scandpower as CEO. He is a newly elected Fellow of the American Nuclear Society.
Last modified October 21, 2020, 10:32am EDT
