Nuclear Energy

Ensuring clean energy and environmental stability for national security, Sandia’s Nuclear Energy teams provide research and analysis to help ensure safe, secure, viable, and sustainable solutions to nuclear energy challenges, ranging from power generation to space launch safety to the management of spent nuclear fuel.

Sandia provides science and engineering research for traditional light water reactor and new advanced reactor safety, security, spent nuclear fuel storage, transportation, security, safeguards, and disposal. The tools and research we develop at Sandia are critical to ensuring that nuclear reactors are safe and secure and that spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste is safely and securely stored away from the environment and people. Our work informs decisions the United States government makes regarding nuclear reactor licensing, radioactive waste storage, transportation, safeguards, and disposal for current and future waste, impacting generations to come.   

In addition to developing tools for assessing reactor safety, security, and the safe storage of existing waste we also focus on the successful deployment of advanced reactors and other nuclear facilities. The next generation of nuclear reactors and fuel cycle facilities must incorporate Safeguards, Security, and Safety by Design so that these facilities are intrinsically safe and secure now and into the future. Sandia provides safeguards analysis capabilities that leverage our safety and security expertise to design and evaluate advanced safeguards and security system designs for future nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Considering safety and security during the design and build process will decrease the long-term operational costs of new nuclear facilities and will assure safety and security of the facilities well into the future.

Sandia develops innovative technologies and methodologies through scientific analyses and experiments to enhance the safety of the nuclear fuel cycle and the supporting infrastructure. We provide a scientific basis to support Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing and regulatory decisions and advance the technical foundation for severe accident analysis/management and high consequence risk characterization of light water and advanced nuclear power systems. In addition, we provide and advance the scientific and technical basis to defend energy systems from cyber and physical threats.

Sandia leverages over 45 years of experience informing policy decisions and leading in the development, integration, and implementation of technically safe, viable, and sustainable solutions to nuclear energy challenges, ranging from power generation to the management of spent nuclear fuel.