El-Genk delivered lecture at ANS Winter Meeting and Expo

December 4, 2024

Mohamed El-Genk, distinguished and Regents’ professor of Nuclear Engineering and the founding director of the Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies recently spoke at the Open Plenary Panel of the American Nuclear Society’s Winter Meeting and Expo held in Orlando, Nov. 17- 21.

He delivered a talk titled, “Nuclear Power: Projected Growth and Futurities,” reviewing the status and potential growth of nuclear power for use in space exploration and clean energy options that could help meet increased electrical demands created by data centers in the U.S. and abroad. In COP28 in Dubai and COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 31 countries and more than 120 companies signed a joint statement to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050, to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In his recent talk at the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting, El-Genk highlighted the demand for Small Modular Reactors and Modular Micro Reactors for baseload power supply for data centers, remote communities and mining activities around the world.

He also highlighted design features of safe and passively operating SLIMM-SMR and VSLLIM-MMR developed at the University’s Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies for long operation lives with no onsite storage of either fresh or spent nuclear fuel. These reactor designs passively generate 10 to 100 megawatts and one to 10 megawatts, respectively, of thermal power for electricity generation to a host of industrial applications and remote mining operations in arid and remote locations. They will be fully constructed, assembled and sealed in factories, then delivered on a portable platform or installed below ground and mounted in seismic insulation bearings at selected sites.

He concluded his talk with recommendations for future actions to support the projected growth in nuclear power in the U.S. and how the country’s nuclear industry can claim a global market share of nuclear energy growth in other countries.