September 21-25
Advancing the science and application of U.S. research and test reactors in service to science, industry, and the nation.
📍 The University of Texas at Austin · Austin, Texas · Fall 2026
The TRTR Annual Conference is the preeminent gathering of professionals, researchers, and students working with test, research, and training reactors across the United States.
Hosted by the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory (NETL) at The University of Texas at Austin, the 2026 conference will feature technical sessions, facility tours, workshops, and networking opportunities spanning the full breadth of research reactor operations, science, and policy.
This year's accepted presentations, organized by session theme.
Every accepted talk, in order, with start times and speakers — so you can plan which sessions to attend. Tuesday runs two tracks in parallel; Wednesday is NRC Day; Thursday and Friday are single-track.
We welcome abstracts from researchers, operators, students, and industry professionals. Accepted papers will be scheduled for oral or poster presentation and included in the conference proceedings.
If you intend to present but are not ready to submit an abstract use the "Intent to Submit" option in "Submit Abstract"
To register your intent to submit later, press Submit Abstract and select the Intent to Submit tab.
Questions about submissions? Contact the Program Committee at [email protected] (placeholder — to be updated).
The conference will be held at the Residence Inn by Marriott Austin Downtown/Convention Center. The conference room rate is $199/night until August 28, valet parking $35/night or $20/day. Book here.
The following hotels are within walking distance and participate in U.S. Government / GSA per diem rate programs. Present your government ID at check-in.
Austin has emerged as a de facto headquarters for the advancing nuclear renaissance — home to a unique concentration of industry advocacy bodies, state policy offices, reactor developers with active manufacturing facilities, and a research reactor with license renewal progressing in a rapidly changing environment. No city outside the traditional federal laboratory corridors can match this density of nuclear activity.
Prototypes, test platorms, new reactor concepts, and fast builds are a pressure test for safety standards and quality assurance systems that are the core of legacy nuclear safty culture. This conference the center of active development is a timely reminder that shared expertise, experience, and research of the Test, Research, and Training Reactor community has an important role as the nuclear industry moves forward.
The only industry association in Texas dedicated exclusively to advancing nuclear technology across the state. Headquartered in Austin, TNA hosts the annual Texas Nuclear Summit and is the primary voice of the nuclear industry at the state level.
Austin HQ
House Bill 14 directs TANEO lead Texas to a balanced energy future with innovative nuclear generation. It administers the $350 million Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund — one of the largest state-level nuclear investment programs in the country.
HB 14 — $350M Fund
The PUCT regulates the state's electric, telecommunication, and water utilities, with growing oversight responsibilities as nuclear energy re-enters Texas's generation mix. Its decisions shape the policy and market framework for new reactor deployment statewide.
Texas Electricity Regulator
The University of Texas Energy Institute coordinates interdisciplinary energy research, education, and policy engagement across UT Austin. It bridges academia, industry, and government to advance solutions across the full energy landscape — including nuclear.
UT Austin
TRTR 2026 is timed to align with Austin's Energy Week — a convergence of energy industry events, policy forums, and networking across the city. Attendees gain access to a broader ecosystem of energy stakeholders at one of the sector's most active annual gatherings.
Austin · 2026
Aalo opened a 40,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility in Austin — midway between downtown and the airport — where it is building its experimental Aalo-X microreactor and plans to manufacture its Aalo-1 sodium-cooled fast reactor on a factory production line.
40,000 sq ft Austin FacilityLast Energy, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is developing factory-built microreactors designed for rapid deployment to industrial customers. The company focuses on modular, repeatable nuclear plants to accelerate clean energy deployment worldwide.
Texas Deployment PlannedNatura selected Abilene Christian University to lead the Natura Resources Research Alliance (4-university consortium of Texas A&M, UT Austin & Georgia Tech) to design, license, and build a molten salt research reactor on ACU's campus. The construction permit is the only NRC construction permit for a liquid-fueled reactor design in U.S. history.
Only NRC Liquid-Fuel Permit · ACU LeadAustin-headquartered Quantum Leap Energy has a joint venture with Fermi America to develop a HALEU enrichment research and production facility — co-located with Fermi America's hypergrid campus in Amarillo, Texas, supporting HALEU for advanced reactor designs now entering the deployment pipeline.
HALEU Enrichment · Amarillo HypergridSubcritical Systems is bringing the energy amplifier concept to the US to safely generate electrical power with a particle accelerator to sustain fission of nuclear fuel in a subcritical core generating power.
Accelerator-Driven Energy Amplifier
A wholly owned subsidiary of Oklo (NYSE: OKLO), Atomic Alchemy is building the Groves Isotopes Test Reactor — a light-water-cooled, pool-type Versatile Isotope Production Reactor (VIPR) — in Caldwell County, Texas, as part of the planned Proto-Town Innovation Hub. The DOE approved their Nuclear Safety Design Agreement under the Reactor Pilot Program in March 2026, and the company is targeting criticality by July 4, 2026 — potentially making it operational before the TRTR conference. The facility is designed to produce isotopes for cancer diagnosis and treatment, advanced manufacturing, scientific research, space exploration, and national security, and will serve as a pilot for a planned multi-reactor isotope foundry.
DOE NSDA Approved · Criticality Target July 2026UT Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program researchers developed a protoype digital twin of the NETL TRIGA reactor, collecting data to calibrate faster than real-time performance predictor to support developing control methodolgy. The TRIGA reactor simulator, historical data, reactor core configuration, real-time data streaming, a first-of-a-kind web-based simulator, a state-of-the-art data-driven reactor controller and the physics-informed Shadowcaster engine are on disply at https://nuclear-twins.tacc.utexas.edu.
The University of Texas at Austin anchors one of America's most dynamic cities — a hub of technology, culture, and live music on the banks of the Colorado River.
UT Austin's NETL operates a 1.1 MW TRIGA Mark II reactor, one of the most utilized university research reactors in the country.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is ~25 minutes from campus. Major airlines provide direct service from most U.S. cities. Rideshare and taxi services are widely available.
Austin is renowned for its live music scene, world-class cuisine, and the famous 6th Street entertainment district. Free time will not be wasted in this city.
Barton Springs Pool, Lady Bird Lake kayaking, and the Barton Creek Greenbelt are all minutes from campus. October weather is ideal for outdoor exploration.
Austin is unlike any other conference city. Beyond the technical sessions, you'll find a metropolis buzzing with live music, world-class sports, and iconic Texas culture — all within minutes of campus.
One of Austin's most storied live music venues, Stubb's has hosted legends from Willie Nelson to Radiohead in its beloved outdoor amphitheater. With shows nearly every night, it's a short walk from the UT campus and the perfect place to experience Austin's legendary music scene firsthand.
The legendary ACL Music Festival takes over Zilker Park each fall, drawing over 75,000 fans per day to watch hundreds of acts on multiple stages — with the Austin skyline as a backdrop. Even outside festival season, the ACL Live taping studio at the Moody Center carries on the tradition of America's longest-running music TV program.
Since 1964, the Broken Spoke has been Austin's authentic Texas honky-tonk. Voted Best Honky Tonk in Texas, this beloved institution has survived decades of development surrounding it — a true "last dancehall" where two-stepping with strangers is highly encouraged. Hash browns, chicken-fried steak, and cold Lone Stars complete the experience.
The Round Rock Express, Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, play at Dell Diamond — one of the finest minor league ballparks in America. Catch a game under the Texas sky just 20 minutes north of campus. Affordable tickets, great food, and an experience that captures the soul of American baseball at its most approachable.
America's premier Formula 1 circuit sits just 15 miles southeast of downtown Austin. Home to the US Grand Prix, COTA also hosts MotoGP, IndyCar, a theme park, and a packed events calendar year-round. Even outside race weekends, the facility offers tours, go-karting, and a 251-foot observation tower with panoramic views of the Texas Hill Country.
Austin's Major League Soccer club plays at Q2 Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium built in Texas. The Verde faithful — known as Las Coronas — create one of the loudest atmospheres in MLS. Catch a home match and join tens of thousands of fans in the standing supporter's section for a true Austin spectacle.
Each evening at dusk, up to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats stream out from beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge in the world's largest urban bat colony. Crowds gather along the bridge and the banks of Lady Bird Lake to watch the swirling emergence against the Austin skyline — a uniquely Austin spectacle just minutes from campus.
Standing taller than the U.S. Capitol, the Texas State Capitol is a stunning example of 19th-century Renaissance Revival architecture built from distinctive pink Texas granite. Free guided and self-guided tours take visitors through the rotunda, House and Senate chambers, and the surrounding grounds — a must-see landmark just north of the UT campus.
The University of Texas campus is home to a collection of bronze statues celebrating Texas history and heritage, from cowboys and horses to notable figures woven throughout the grounds. A stroll across campus between sessions offers a self-guided walking tour of these landmarks alongside the university's iconic Tower.
Traveling with a spouse, family, or just have open hours between sessions? Austin's museums, gardens, and Hill Country day trips make for an easy, walkable or short-drive itinerary. Filter by what you're after, or browse the map — hours, tickets, and closures change, so confirm details on each official site before you go.
Outside. One of Austin’s signature evening experiences: watch Mexican free-tailed bats emerge over Lady Bird Lake.
September is still bat season and can be excellent, but emergence timing and visibility are weather-dependent. Go before sunset.
Mostly inside. Small, free historic house museum devoted to writer William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry.
A compact stop—easy to pair with the Susanna Dickinson Museum next door.
Mostly inside. Free downtown museum centered on Susanna Dickinson, survivor and messenger of the Alamo.
Small museum; combine it with O. Henry Museum and downtown sightseeing.
Inside. Mexican, Mexican-American and Latin American art in the heart of downtown.
Sunday admission is normally free; always verify current exhibit installation/closure notices before going.
Inside + rooftop. A destination library with dramatic modern architecture, art, reading terraces and a rooftop garden.
A particularly good hot-afternoon break; save the rooftop for a cooler part of the day.
Both. Tour the Capitol, rotunda and grounds; add the historic Capitol Visitors Center on the southeast corner.
Free guided Capitol tours are offered periodically. Expect security screening.
Inside. Three floors of Texas history plus special exhibitions and an IMAX theater.
Excellent midday indoor choice; convenient to the Capitol and UT museums.
Mostly inside. UT Austin’s major art museum, with a broad collection and the distinctive Ellsworth Kelly building, Austin.
Closed Mondays under the current schedule; pair with the UT campus walk.
Inside. Free UT museum and archive with rotating exhibitions in literature, photography, film and cultural history.
Exhibition galleries are currently closed Mondays; check the current exhibition before visiting.
Inside. Dinosaurs, fossils, geology and Texas natural history on the UT campus.
Closed Mondays under the current schedule; a strong family-friendly indoor option.
Outside. Walk the Tower and South Mall, Littlefield Fountain, Battle Oaks, campus sculptures and major statues including MLK Jr. and Barbara Jordan.
September can still be hot; do the outdoor loop early or late and duck into nearby museums midday.
Inside. A strong overview of Lyndon B. Johnson, civil rights, the Great Society, Vietnam and the 1960s presidency.
Current hours are daily; Tuesday admission is currently half-price. Check current ticketing before your visit.
Mostly outside. A compact, shaded sculpture garden and museum immediately east of Zilker Park.
Best in the morning or late afternoon; currently closed Mondays.
Outside. Japanese garden, koi ponds, streams, live oaks, rose garden and the Hartman Prehistoric Garden.
Late September is not peak spring bloom season, but the Japanese garden, ponds and landscape remain worthwhile. Go early.
Both, mostly outside. Hands-on nature exhibits, rescued wildlife, trails and the popular Dino Pit on the western edge of Zilker Park.
Much of the experience is outdoors; combine with Zilker Botanical Garden in the morning.
Outside. Austin’s spring-fed three-acre pool, typically 68–70°F year-round.
Thursday, Sept. 24: current schedule closes the pool for cleaning 9 a.m.–7 p.m.; guarded swimming resumes 7–10 p.m.
Outside. Short stair climb to a classic overlook of Lake Austin and the Hill Country.
Best early morning or near sunset. The climb involves stairs and September afternoons may be hot.
Mostly outside. UT Austin’s native-plant botanic garden, with designed gardens, arboretum and trails.
September is not bluebonnet season; visit for native landscapes rather than spring wildflower fields.
Outside. Limestone falls, trails, swimming areas and historic sites surprisingly close to downtown Austin.
Water level and swimming conditions depend on recent rainfall; reservations are wise because the park can reach capacity.
Underground. Large limestone cavern just north of Austin with guided tours and formations discovered during I-35 construction.
The cave stays about 72°F but feels warmer because of humidity. Sept. 20–25 hours are on the post-summer schedule.
Sponsorship funds are received through The University of Texas at Austin. Gain prominent visibility with the national research reactor community — operators, researchers, regulators, and students — at one of the field's premier annual gatherings.
Activity sponsorships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis and avaialabilty will be periodcally updated. You will be contacted if your initial preference has already been completely committed.
Submit your commitment online or contact us to discuss custom packages. All funds administered through The University of Texas at Austin.
Confirmed Forum sessions appear below and will be included in the printed program. Additional sessions will be added as the program is finalized.
A digital twin is a dynamic virtual representation of a physical reactor that combines operating data with models to reflect reactor behavior. Digital twins can help researchers and operators better understand performance, test scenarios, anticipate maintenance needs, and support safer, more efficient operation. These capabilities are increasingly relevant to research reactors as well as emerging small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors (MMRs).
This meeting will explore launching a consortium where the research reactor community can help one another develop digital twins, share lessons learned, exchange ideas and tools, and identify opportunities for joint projects. The TRTR session will serve as a kickoff presentation and discussion for anyone interested in shaping this collaborative effort.
Part 57's flexible framework can seem ambiguous — but it can also create valuable design and licensing flexibility. This TRTR Forum will connect microreactor developers with research-reactor licensees who have decades of experience building credible, right-sized licensing bases within similarly tailored regulatory frameworks.
Structured conversations across the reactor, research, and industry communities discussing where research reactors can contribute or share information, and where barriers may have limited collaboration.
Across radiation effects testing, medical isotope production, materials research, and other domains, research reactor capabilities are not always visible to the communities that could use them. In some cases the connection simply hasn't been made. In others, assumptions about what research reactors can deliver may not reflect current reality. Research reactors continually seek and develop innovations for operations, maintenance, and research capabilities that could result in safer and more efficient operations across the community — knowledge that does not always travel beyond the facility where it was earned. The Research Reactor Applications Forum is designed to build those connections and close those gaps.
These will not be paper presentations. Each Forum session will be a structured conversation designed to bring together reactor operators, external researchers, agency program managers, and industry partners — anyone with a stake in whether these capabilities and innovations reach the people and programs that could benefit from them. The goal is matchmaking, knowledge transfer, and peer learning: connecting reactor facilities with external communities that haven't found their way to the table and sharing lessons from reactor-to-reactor. Sessions will be held after the main technical program concludes, giving every attendee the opportunity to participate regardless of their conference schedule.
Share what your facility can do, what you've learned building a capability, and what a similar program might look like elsewhere. Or ask — if another facility has developed something that would benefit the community, this is the place to surface that conversation. Not a paper — an honest working exchange.
If you have a testing, irradiation, or isotope need — or if you've written off research reactors based on assumptions about what they can deliver — this session is for you. Bring your problem.
Program managers and agency representatives are essential voices here. If you fund work that touches reactor-based testing or production, your perspective on what's working — and what's missing — shapes the conversation.
Questions? Contact the program committee at trtr2026@utexas.edu.
Whether you're a reactor facility, an external researcher, an industry partner, or an agency representative — tell us what you'd bring to the table or what you need. The program committee reviews all submissions.
Whether you have questions about registration, sponsorship, abstract submission, or hotel accommodations, we're here to help.
[email protected]
whaley@mail.utexas.edu
[email protected]
hcook@austin.utexas.edu
Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712
Hosted by The University of Texas at Austin
All registration fees and sponsorship contributions are processed through UT Austin. Federal Tax ID and account details will be provided upon request for institutional purchasing.
Registration fees support conference operations and are processed through The University of Texas at Austin.
Register and pay securely — you will be directed to the UT Austin payment portal to complete your registration.
Professional rate: $800 (early) · $850 after August 1. Cancellation policy: full refund up to 30 days before the conference.
