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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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NN Asks: Is the U.S. ready for nuclear construction to accelerate?
Craig Stover
Yes, but . . .
The United States is better positioned today for nuclear construction than it has been in decades. Some of that comes from the experience gained at Vogtle and V.C. Summer. I was part of the team that helped start the V.C. Summer project in 2008, and at that time we were trying to build a nuclear construction workforce from scratch. We learned a lot through that effort, and many of those lessons learned have since been studied, documented, and shared.
The nuclear industry is also benefiting from the wave of investment that started growing around 2020. Over the last five or six years, there has been a serious effort across the country to get ready for new nuclear builds. The U.S. government and the private sector are investing billions of dollars in new nuclear. Much of that work is happening before widespread commercial deployment contracts are signed. This is real, and we need to prepare.
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by RPD
Thursday, December 2, 2021|10:00–11:45AM EST |Columbia 2
Session Chair:
Pavel V. Tsvetkov (Texas A&M Un iversity)
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Massimiliano Fratoni (University of California at Berkeley)
Student Assistant:
Erika Smith
A number of research reactors, test reactors and facilities are in operation or are being developed and built. They support important R&D programs towards current and future developments. Many of these facilities are at university campuses serving as both educational and R&D instruments. While the design space of research facilities is dominated by light water systems, the research capabilities are rapidly expanding towards advanced reactors. This panel will discuss ongoing and planned efforts involving research reactors, test reactors, and research facilities focusing on the significant opportunities offered by these systems in support of advanced reactor R&D.
Douglas Robison
Natura Resources, LLC
Rusty Towell
Abilene Christian Univ.
Steve Biegalski
Georgia Institute of Technology
Derek Haas
University of Texas at Austin
Caleb Brooks
Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Charles Forsberg
MIT
Wes Hines
Univ. of Tenn., Knoxville
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