NEST Small Modular Advanced Reactor Training (SMART) Programme Microreactor Deployment Workshop
Programme

The 2023 Microreactor Deployment Workshop will enable participating student teams to understand the multi-disciplinary challenges in deploying microreactors. Over a one-week course, students will be introduced to the resources used to advance and deploy microreactor systems. Topics will include deployment scenarios in Alaska and Wyoming; INL tools and programmes to support deployment; advanced reactor technologies; community engagement and ethics; siting tools; economic and regulatory considerations; integrated energy systems; legal and policy drivers; and international collaborations. Each student team will be assigned a mentor team and will have access to an experts' network. The last session of the week will be dedicated to student presentations on their deployment scenarios and the choices made to ensure successful deployment.

This workshop follows other NEST events that took place in recent years:

  • SMR Hackathon - one-week event organised in the summer of 2020;
  • NEST SMR Prize Competition - held one day a week over an eight-week period in the summer of 2021;
  • SMR Press Pitch in 2022 - four two-hour single day virtual sessions followed by an on-site day of final preparations and pitches by the student teams. 

Organisers

The NEST SMR project was formed to promote hands-on training, learning and knowledge exchange between groups of NEST Fellows (primarily graduate and post-doctoral students and researchers) in multidisciplinary areas that support the deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMR). In executing its mission, the NEST SMR project promotes a holistic view of nuclear science, engineering and non-technical disciplines relating to SMR deployment.  Current NEST participants are McMaster University, the University of Regina, SCK-CEN in Belgium, the University of Wisconsin, Texas A&M University, Purdue University, Utah State University, and the University of Illinois.

The Emerging Energy Market Analysis (EMA) was formed with the University of Alaska, Boise State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, and the University of Wyoming. The multidisciplinary team includes lawyers, sociologists, energy policy experts, engineers and scientists. The EMA team helps people make energy choices that are right for their time, place and community. These choices are informed by a value map created using a multidimensional decision framework.  EMA’s framework is designed to assess emerging opportunities driven by energy market transitions, whether it’s a developing nation looking to build new carbon-free infrastructure, or a developed nation looking to replace fossil fuel-based electricity generation.

 

The application deadline is now closed. More information is available of the SMR Micro – Small Modular Reactor Microreactor Pitch page.