The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy announce a Joint Workshop Non-Light Water Reactor Strategies. The NRC and DOE will be holding the Non-Light Water Reactor Strategies Workshop on September 1-2, 2015, in Rockville, MD.

The purpose of the workshop is to explore options for increased efficiency, from both a technical and regulatory perspective, in the safe development and deployment of innovative reactor technologies.

This would include examining both near-term and longer-term opportunities to test, demonstrate, and construct prototype advanced reactors and establish the most appropriate licensing processes.

The workshop is envisioned to be the first in a possible series of workshops to allow key stakeholders to share perspectives, reach a common understanding, identify potential challenges, and explore opportunities. The initial workshop in September will focus on exchanging information from the various entities (NRC, DOE, industry) on topics such as:

• clarification of roles and responsibilities
• common understanding of terminology
• existing regulations, policies, practices
• existing programs, initiatives and activities to support advanced reactor development
• potential challenges to advanced reactor deployment
• identification of gaps or critical needs
• discuss opportunities for improving the existing processes and practices

Speakers on the conference agenda  include;

• John Kelly, and John Kotek, policy makers from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy,
• Stephen Burns, Chairman, NRC
• Glenn Tracy, Director of New Reactors, NRC
• Industry speakers including TerraPower, GE-PRISM, Venrock, Gen4Energy, and others.

The Workshop on Non-Light Water Reactor Strategies will be held at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel and Conference Center located at 5701 Marinelli Rd., North Bethesda, MD. 20852.

Conference Registration web page

For questions or comments regarding the Workshop on Non-Light Water Reactor Strategies, please contact:

Jan Mazza
(301) 415-0498
Jan.Mazza@nrc.gov

# # #