Thermal Hydraulics Issues in Licensing of Advanced Reactors

In recent years there has been an increased interest in advanced reactors in the United States. Several concepts are being proposed by multiple vendors and start-ups, with an accelerated pathway to market. In particular, DOE has recently issued two awards aimed at deploying demonstration reactors and several more aimed at accelerating current research activities. An important activity related to commercialization of these concepts is licensing and the overall role of the regulator. Furthermore, central to licensing and safety analysis is the understanding of thermal-hydraulics phenomena, which present considerable differences compared to light-water reactors. In this panel we will address current thermal-hydraulic issues in the licensing of advanced reactor concepts and ongoing research on this topic. This panel serves as a follow-up to the previous panel discussion from the 2021 Winter meeting.