Conference Agenda

The global energy landscape is undergoing a nuclear renaissance, driven by rising energy demands, economic growth, and the computational needs of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). With around 65 reactors under construction across 15 countries—and more planned, including in nations new to nuclear energy—the industry is advancing swiftly. While most new reactors rely on traditional light water reactor (LWR) designs, a growing number embrace advanced concepts like heat pipe, gas-cooled, liquid metal-cooled, and molten salt reactors. These “new” advanced designs, grounded in mid-20th-century thermohydraulic (TH) research, face modern demands for safety, economic viability, and regulatory compliance. A key challenge is the reliance on outdated TH experimental data, which, limited by past techniques’ resolution, lacks the spatial and temporal detail to capture next-generation reactors’ complex flow physics, hindering validation of simulation tools like CFD. In this paper, we present examples of high-resolution thermohydraulic experiments designed to support the development of advanced nuclear reactors. These experiments address key challenges in model validation by transforming raw measurements into trusted datasets. Using cutting-edge diagnostics and instrumentation, they deliver precise, high-fidelity data that capture critical flow phenomena under relevant conditions. The resulting datasets are used to validate CFD and multi-physics simulation codes, reduce modeling uncertainties, and support improved physical understanding. By strengthening the predictive capability of simulation tools, these experiments contribute to refined reactor designs, optimized performance, and more efficient regulatory licensing—ultimately enabling the safe and effective deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies.