Nuclear Heat Workshop

ARPA-E hosted a workshop on Nuclear Heat & Power for Industrial Process Applications on May 30-June 1, 2023 in Houston, TX.

The event convened technical experts and thought leaders to discuss critical technology needs and opportunities for decarbonizing industrial processes by coupling these processes with nuclear heat and power. The workshop included technical and market focused presentations, facilitated breakout groups, and networking opportunities with the overarching goal of identifying disruptive R&D pathways to integrate nuclear heat and power with industrial processes.

Participants had the opportunity to discuss progress on advanced nuclear reactors, economic and regulatory drivers, and process co-designs and co-optimizations, identify key technical challenges, propose potential solutions, network with stakeholders, and share experiences in the field.


Day 1

Time

Event

7:30 – 8:00 am

Registration, Coffee, Snacks, & Networking

8:00 - 8:15 am

Welcome & Introduction to ARPA-E

Dr. David Tew – ARPA-E

8:15 – 8:45 am

Workshop rationale and advanced reactor landscape

Dr. Jenifer Shafer – ARPA-E

8:45 – 9:15 am

Presentation # 1: General motivation and EPRI observations

Jeremy Shook – EPRI

9:15 – 9:45 am

Presentation # 2: Current SOTA for Nuclear Hybrid Systems and Needs

Dr. Shannon Bragg-Sitton - INL

9:45 – 10:15 am

Coffee Break

10:15 – 10:45 am

Presentation # 3:  Guggenheim’s Perspective on Financing the Advanced Reactor Sector

James Schaefer - Guggenheim

10:45 – 12:00 pm

 

Quanta Panel #1: Advanced reactor developments

Moderators:  Dr. Jenifer Shafer, Dr. Bob Ledoux

Microreactor Cohort:

BWXT - Josh Parker

Oklo – Ed Petit de Mange

USNC – Dr. Bret Van den Akker

Westinghouse – Zach McDaniel

ALWR Cohort:

GE-H – Brian Hunt

Holtec - Dr. Rick Springman

NuScale – Dr. Jose Reyes

Alternate Coolant AR Cohort:

Boston Atomics - Robbie Stewart

General Atomics – Dr. Christina Back

Terrestrial – Dr. Robin Rickman

X-Energy – Ian Davis

12:00 – 1:00 pm

Networking Lunch

1:00 – 2:00 pm

Panel #2: Industrial decarbonization plans and paths

Moderator:  Dr. Jack Lewnard

Dow – Gretchen Baier

Exxon – Justin Sink

Shell – Leonardo Spanu

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Breakout Session: Introduction & Objectives 

Dr. Jenifer Shafer – Program Director - ARPA-E

2:15 – 2:30 pm

Coffee Break; transition to breakout sessions

2:30 – 4:00 pm

Group 1a: Reliability, availability, and maintainability needs and challenges (BEXAR)

Group 2a: Process co-optimization opportunities (NEUCES)

Group 3a: What is a minimum viable product and what is a pilot (TRAVIS)

Group 4a:  High temperature applications – what are the real needs? Potential for heat augmentation (LAMAR)

4:00– 4:30 pm

Networking break

4:30 – 5:00 pm

Report out of breakout session

5:00 – 5:30 pm

Q & A and summary of Day 1

5:30 pm

Conclusion of Day 1

 


Day 2

Time

Event

8:00 – 8:45 am

Registration, Coffee, Snacks, & Networking

8:45 – 9:00 am

Summary of Day 1 and Day 2 look-ahead

Dr. Jenifer Shafer – Program Director - ARPA-E

9:00– 10:00 am

Panel # 1: Digital tools for linking process with nuclear heat and power

Moderator:  Dr. Bob Ledoux

Ansys - Anchal Jatale

PowerN - Kevin Han

Terra Praxis - Justin Aborn

VTT – Matti Paljakka

10:00 – 10:30

Coffee Break

10:30 – 10:50 am

Presentation # 1:  NEA’s SMR Case Study – Heavy Industry

OECD Nuclear Energy Agency – Lucas Mir

10:50 – 11:35 am

Panel # 2: Power Plant and Industrial facility development for 2023 and beyond: Greenfield vs Retrofits

Moderator:  Dr. Chris Vandervort

Black & Veatch – Roosevelt Huggins

Worley – Anne McPhee and Keyes Niemer

11:35 – 1:05 pm

Networking Lunch

1:05 – 1:20 pm

Breakout Session: Introduction & Objectives 

Dr. Jenifer Shafer – Program Director, ARPA-E

1:20 – 2:50 pm

Group 1b: Modeling and simulation tools/needs for coupling nuclear with industrial processes (BEXAR)

Group 2b: System, structure, and component needs and development (NEUCES)

Group 3b: Retrofits vs. Greenfield development – constructability, timelines, and requirements (TRAVIS)

Group 4b: Risk identification and mitigation (LAMAR)

2:50– 3:00 pm

PD Wrap-up

3:00 pm

Adjourn

 


Disclaimer:

For the presentations included or linked on this website, the views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Government or any agency thereof, or its contractors or subcontractors. The organization names used on this site or in the linked presentations are the trademarks of their respective holders. Reference or depiction herein to any specific organization, device, product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof or its contractors or subcontractors.