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2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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NRC commissioners talk reforms, roles at Day 1 of RIC 2026
Even a last-minute cancelation from Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright could not derail the optimism permeating day 1 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual Regulatory Information Conference (RIC).
The optimistic theme came up several times during the morning plenary sessions that highlighted Tuesday’s agenda. The NRC commissioners who spoke said the optimism was a result of the “nuclear renaissance” they are encountering that feels different from past nuclear-related revivals that didn’t materialize.
Timothy Ault, Steven Krahn (Vanderbilt Univ), Andrew Worrall (ORNL), Allen Croff (Vanderbilt Univ)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 210-216
The synergy of light and heavy water reactors using both uranium and thorium has been examined for the primary purpose of managing transuranic radionuclide (TRU) production. Two variants of a two-reactor system, where the first reactor uses uranium oxide fuel and the second reactor uses thorium-based fuels with a transuranic component, are analyzed from the perspective of TRU management. One variant uses low-enriched uranium made from natural uranium and uranium recovered from reprocessing in the first reactor, while the other variant uses highly enriched uranium. Full recycle of all actinides was used to minimize the amount of transuranics requiring repository disposal, so that the only source of exiting transuranics is from losses associated with process inefficiencies. Both variants compare favorably with other fuel cycle options with regards to the quantity of transuranic elements requiring geological disposal on an energy-normalized basis.