Symposium on Structural Material Challenges for the Long-Term Operation of Nuclear Power Plants

(In-person only event)

Date: February 4, 2026 - February 5, 2026

Event Location:  Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Organized by: ASTM Committee E10 on Nuclear Technology and Applications

 

 

About the Event

The Symposium on Structural Material Challenges for the Long-Term Operation of Nuclear Power Plants will be held February 4, 2026 - February 5, 2026. The symposium is organized by ASTM Committee E10 on Nuclear Technology and Applications , and will be held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia, USA in conjunction with the February 2026 standards development meetings of the committee. The language of the symposium will be English.

 

Objective and Scope

While the operation of currently operating nuclear power plants beyond the term of their initial license has been a topic of discussion as well as practical application for over two decades, recent disturbances to global oil supplies have sparked a renewed interest in this topic. This meeting will provide a forum for an international exchange of ideas concerning new approaches to facilitate nuclear plant license extension. Additionally, modern plants, including small modular reactors, are being designed to operate for increasingly long times. The meeting will also provide a forum for discussion of the optimal use of high fluence data from different sources in predicting vessel embrittlement.

It is anticipated that this symposium will attract a spectrum of attendees including researchers, industry engineers, plant life management executives, and regulators. Discussion among and across these expert groups is needed to create efficient pathways for the extended operation of existing nuclear plants and meeting the design challenges of new reactors.

Topics for this symposium include:

  • Reactor pressure vessel: Embrittlement management, surveillance monitoring, extended beltline
  • Applicability of current data to the licensing of SMR's and other new design concepts
  • The effect of low temperature neutron embrittlement on reactor pressure vessel support structures
  • Flux and spectrum effects and their impact on predicting embrittlement for long service lifetimes
  • Radiation effects on the fracture toughness of reactor internals, as well as irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking
  • Applicability of ion irradiation and small-scale mechanical testing on irradiation hardening/embrittlement phenomena
  • Analytical techniques: Probabilistic methods, machine learning, etc. When are advanced techniques needed vs. situations in which conventional approaches remain satisfactory?
  • Codes and Standards: New or modified practices needed for long-term operation
  • Regulatory Approaches: Original licensing basis, current best practices, and evolving methods including discussions of if data and knowledge obtained thus far can justifiably reduce regulatory burden moving forward?

 

Abstract Submission

To participate in the symposium, authors must submit a 250 to 300-word preliminary abstract no later than February 15, 2025. To ensure your abstract was received into the ASTM database, please email symposia@astm.org and let us know that you have submitted an abstract.

The abstract must include a clear definition of the objective and approach of the work discussed, pointing out material that is new, and present sufficient details regarding results. The presentation and manuscript must not be of a commercial nature, nor can it have been previously published. Because a limited number of abstracts will be accepted, be sure that your abstract submission is complete to allow for careful assessment of the paper's suitability for this symposium. The symposium chair(s) will notify you via email by March 21, 2025 of your paper’s acceptability for presentation at the symposium. If the preliminary abstract is accepted, the author will be requested to submit a final abstract a few months before the symposium. The final abstracts will be distributed in a program booklet at the symposium.

 

Publication Information

Symposium authors are required to submit their papers for ASTM publication in Selected Technical Papers (STP), an online and printed, peer-reviewed publication for the international scientific and engineering community. STP papers should be full-length technical papers of approximately 10,000 words, significantly contribute to the technical literature, and must include a review of past work in the relevant area and present information of current interest or probe new fields. After the final selection of abstracts has been approved, the ASTM Editorial Office will send authors’ instructions via email, but also can be found by clicking here.

Manuscripts to be peer reviewed for the STP are due online no later than October 31, 2025 at the ASTM Editorial Office. The corresponding author (the author who is the main contact with ASTM Headquarters) will receive a copy of his/her paper in portable document format (PDF). All published authors will have the opportunity to purchase reprints of their papers at a nominal cost. Only those papers submitted by the manuscript due date will be included in the STP.

Please note that all submitted papers are subject to peer review by two independent reviewers. The STP will be submitted to the Library of Congress with an ISBN number and will be reviewed for inclusion in the Web of Science Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI) and Google Scholar.

 

Technical Program

A technical program (presentation times, paper titles, and presenters’ names) will be posted on the ASTM website by October 2025.

 

Registration

Registration opens approximately 10 weeks before the start of the symposium.

 

Registration

Registration is now open. The fees to attend this event are listed below.

 

Through

MONTH DAY, 2026

 After MONTH DAY, 2026
ASTM Member $100.00 $200.00
Non-member $200.00 $300.00
Presenter Waived Waived
Student Waived Waived

Not an ASTM Member?  An Individual Membership costs only $115.00. If you would like to become a member of ASTM International and Committee E10 to begin taking advantage of all the ASTM membership benefits, including attending this event at a reduced rate, please use the link below to join ASTM before registering for the event. After you have become a member, please return to this webpage to register for the event as an ASTM Member.

ASTM International Membership

All Attendees – All attendees are urged to register for this symposium before arriving onsite. All attendees must check in at the ASTM Registration Area to obtain their name badge before entering the event room.

Presenters– Symposium presenters do not need to register. All presenters will be automatically registered by ASTM.

Students – Students may be eligible for a reduced registration fee provided they meet certain requirements. To qualify for the reduced fee, you must be an active ASTM Student Member, full-time student, not employed full-time, and be able to provide a current valid university email address for registration. To register as a student, please email ASTM Symposia Operations at symposia@astm.org.

Cancellations – A refund of the symposium fee will be honored only if requested at least 10 business days prior to the start of the event. To cancel your registration, please click the "Modify My Registration" button found in your registration confirmation email and follow the prompts to cancel your registration. Please contact Symposia Operations at symposia@astm.org or 610-832-9522 if you need assistance.

If you have questions concerning online registration, please contact Symposia Operations at
symposia@astm.org Tel: 610-832-9522, or ASTM Technical Support at https://www.astm.org/contact.

 

Technical Chair Contact Information

 

Mark Kirk (Chair)
PEAI
Email: kirk@peaiconsulting.com

Susan Ortner (Co-Chair)
National Nuclear Laboratory
Email: susan.r.ortner@uknnl.com

Caleb Massey (Co-Chair)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Email: masseycp@gmail.com

Inge Uytdenhouwen (Co-Chair)
SKC CEN
Email: inge.uytdenhouwen@sckcen.be

Radim Kopriva (Co-Chair)
UJV Rez
Email: radim.kopriva@ujv.cz

Masato Yamamoto (Co-Chair)
CRIEPI
Email: masatoy@criepi.denken.or.jp

 

Continuing Education Units

SYMPOSIUM/WORKSHOP attendees interested in receiving 0.35 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) must complete the CEU application form in the back of the program booklet and email it to ASTM Symposia Operations at symposia@astm.org. You must be registered and have attended the entire event in order to receive the CEU’s. A certificate will be sent to you via email approximately 1 to 2 weeks after the SYMPOSIUM/WORKSHOP concludes.

 

Hotel Information

The event will be held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia. More information on how to make your sleeping room reservation will be posted approximately 12 weeks prior to the start of the event.

 

Hotel Information

 

COPY AND PASTE HOTEL INFORMATION

 

Standards Development Meetings

Committee E10 invites you to attend their future standards development meetings. There is no fee to attend these meetings, and membership in ASTM International is not required to attend. For more information about the committee and their future meetings, please visit the Committee E10 Homepage.