Chair: Peter Hastings, Kairos Power
Vice-Chair: Niko McMurray, ClearPath
Senior Fellow: Cyril Draffin, USNIC
To advance the nation’s energy security and leadership, as well as support global environmental sustainability, the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC) New Nuclear Working Group’s mission is to support the development, regulation, demonstration, deployment, and use of reliable new nuclear technologies and their fuels in the electric utility and industrial sectors, and for military and other applications. The New Nuclear Working Group accomplishes this mission by enhancing knowledge and understanding, and proactively addressing barriers, to speed the deployment of new nuclear technologies.
• Reduce barriers to develop and deploy new nuclear technologies, including nuclear fission light-water-cooled and non-light-water-cooled reactors of all sizes, by the early/mid 2030s
• Evaluate and support the use of nuclear energy for multiple end-uses, including electricity, steam, and heat production applications in the electricity sector; oil and gas, chemical, steel and other industries; and the military
• Engage with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to incorporate more ambitious and transformational regulatory approaches that can reduce undue regulatory burdens in order to efficiently, effectively, and predictability license and oversee new reactor technologies and to establish a foundation for future enhancements based on experience
• Focus on topics where USNIC can provide the most value; and collaborate with external stakeholders including non-governmental organizations and international nuclear regulators that affect deployment of U.S. new nuclear technology
• Provide feedback to U.S. and international government agencies to develop and implement programs that support the research, development, and deployment of new nuclear technologies
• Consider impact of new and novel technologies such as artificial intelligence on licensing and operations of new nuclear
• Support financing and market incentives to support U.S. and international electrical power, industrial, and commercial new nuclear marketing and deployment— including for hydrogen and chemicals, and coal to nuclear plants, in conjunction with the USNIC International and Finance working group
• Consider use of nuclear fuels including HALEU (High Assay Low Enriched Uranium) and TRISO (TRi-structural ISOtropic particle fuel), in conjunction with the USNIC Front-End working group
• Address supply chain issues, in conjunction with other USNIC working groups
• Follow fusion energy developments (including technology development and demonstration, regulatory issues, supply chain, and potential market applications)
• Support state nuclear energy efforts
• Coordinate with other USNIC working groups: International and Finance, Front-End, Back-End, Space & Emerging Technologies, and Environmental Management and Decommissioning
• Hold monthly USNIC New Nuclear Working Group meetings (with USNIC members representing the nuclear ecosystem), with guest speakers as appropriate
• Provide USNIC input at the periodic NRC Advanced Reactor Stakeholder meetings, NRC ADVANCE Act meetings, and other relevant NRC meetings
• Organize the Annual USNIC Advanced Reactors Summits (e.g. USNIC Summit XII, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah; 2024 Summit XI in Houston, Texas; 2023 Summit X in Charlotte, North Carolina; and 2022 Summit IX in Idaho)
• Hold special USNIC workshops: e.g. “Western States New Nuclear Workshop” in Salt Lake City in February 2025 and “Integrating Nuclear Solutions for Petrochemical and Industrial Needs” workshop in Houston in April 2024
• Serve as subject matter experts on behalf of USNIC at external meetings
• Publish position papers on specific topics
• Collaborate with multiple industry, government, and non-governmental organizations involved in nuclear
• Create Special Task Forces, such as the Part 53 Task Force established in 2020
• Implement member surveys on new nuclear
• Distribute meeting notes and breaking news to USNIC members with interest in New Nuclear
