September 21-23, 2026
The Post Oak Hotel
Houston, Texas
Monday, September 21
Check-in and Name Badge Pick-up
- 12:00pm-9:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
VIP Dinner
- 5:00pm-7:30pm
Sponsored by Texas A&M University System
PANEL - Atomic Aggies: Behind the Scenes of the Nation's First University-Hosted Nuclear Energy Proving Ground
Jordan Robison, Chief Executive Officer, Natura Resources
Yasir Arafat, Cofounder, CTO & President, Aalo Atomics
Luke Rice, Vice President of Engineering, Last Energy
Neil Colston, Vice President of Projects, Terrestrial Energy
Moderator: Dr. David Staack, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, Texas A&M University System
NOTE: The VIP Dinner is a smaller, invitation-only event.
Welcome party
Sponsored by NuScale Power
- 7:00pm-9:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
All registered Summit attendees are invited to the Welcome Party to officially kick-off the 2026 Texas Nuclear Summit. Join fellow industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators for drinks, light bites, and an evening of networking before the programming begins. It’s the best way to start the Summit, and the relationships that will carry through the rest of the week and beyond.
Tuesday, September 22
Check-in and Breakfast
- 7:00am–8:00am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
Chairman's Address and Welcome Remarks
- 8:00am–8:10am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Douglass Robison, Chairman, Texas Nuclear Alliance | Founder and Executive Chairman, Natura Resources
Fireside Chat - Licensing Modernization: NRC and Industry Perspectives
- 8:10am–8:40am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Bobby Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Technology Officer, Deployable Energy
- Commissioner Matthew J. Marzano, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Fireside Chat
- 8:40am–9:10am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Chancellor Brandon Creighton, Texas Tech University System
- Mesut Uzman, Chief Nuclear Officer, Fermi America
- Moderator: Kristy Hartman, Senior Director, State Policy & External Affairs, Nuclear Energy Institute
PANEL - Meeting the Megawatt Moment: Nuclear’s Role in Serving AI and Industrial Load Growth
- 9:10am–9:40am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Jeffery Miller, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, TerraPower
- Casey Kelley, Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Constellation
- Moderator: Jeff Kendall, President, US Nuclear, AtkinsRéalis
Microsoft’s power purchase agreement with Constellation is bringing Three Mile Island back online. Meta’s agreement with TerraPower is tying advanced nuclear directly to AI infrastructure. Those deals are no longer hypothetical — they are the model large-load customers are now watching. Yet in Texas, who recently surpassed Virginia in data center construction and capacity under construction, local opposition to data centers is the 2026 election’s top issue, with Governor Greg Abbott ordering a pause on data center approvals pending audits of grid, water, and community impacts. Can nuclear be the solution Texas leaders are looking for to serve AI and industrial load without breaking reliability or public trust? And what does a project have to look like to get built here?
Morning Keynote
- 9:40am–10:00am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Chairman Thomas Gleeson, Public Utility Commission of Texas
Fireside Chat - Achieving Exit Velocity: Scaling Advanced Nuclear from Launch Pad to Market
- 10:00am–10:30am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Kyle Haustveit, Under Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
- Moderator: Reed Clay, Founder and President, Texas Nuclear Alliance
Networking Coffee Break
- 10:30am–10:40am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
Breakout Session - Building the Workforce for a Nuclear Texas
- 10:40am–11:10am
The Post Oak Hotel
- Jon Buchanan, Director, Renewable Clean Energies & Nuclear Technologies (ReCENT), Texas A&M University
- David Amador, Instructor of Nuclear Power Technology, Wharton County Junior College
- Brant Ulsh, President, American Academy of Health Physics
Nuclear ambitions for the State of Texas require a workforce ready to turn projects into reality. This interactive session aims to identify where critical workforce gaps are emerging, explore how Texas can attract and prepare talent from both traditional and nontraditional pathways, and discuss how industry, education, and other partners can better align their efforts. Attendees will join the conversation to help identify practical actions that can strengthen the nuclear workforce pipeline and position Texans for the opportunities ahead.
Breakout Session - Supply Chain Buildout: Closing the Gap Between What Actually Exists and What Texas Projects Need
- 10:40am–11:10am
The Post Oak Hotel
- Jay Surina, Managing Director, Pelican Energy Partners
- Monica Cortez, Ph.D., Executive Director, Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC), University of Houston-Engineering
The nuclear buildout only happens if Texas can attract the qualified suppliers to serve it. This working session is about that gap — what the state can actually fabricate, machine, qualify, and deliver today versus what announced reactors and fuel-cycle work will require. What already exists here, and what can manufacturers do to get into nuclear work? What does Texas offer to those looking to expand or relocate capacity into Texas, and what capital, certification, and workforce support can close the distance? Come ready to say where you are stuck and what would move a contract onto a Texas floor.
Breakout Session - Projects and Partnerships: Building Community Support for Nuclear
- 10:40am–11:10am
The Post Oak Hotel
- Thomas Graham, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Crosswind Media & Public Relations
- Salman Khan, VP Economic Development, Greater Brazos Partnership
Nuclear projects may be driven by national energy needs and state policy, but ultimately, they are built in local communities. Successful development requires more than a strong technical case. It requires trust. Relationships and a clear understanding of what matters most to the people who will live and work alongside these projects is critical to success. In this interactive breakout session, participants will explore practical ways to build community support from the earliest stages of a project. The discussion will focus on engaging local officials and community leaders, listening and responding to residents and landowners, working with local businesses and organizations, and building partnerships that create lasting value for both the project and the community.
Fireside Chat - NuScale Power
- 11:20am–11:50am
The Post Oak Hotel
- John Hopkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, NuScale Power
PANEL - Growth Without Gridlock: How Nuclear’s Load-Following and Co-Location Potential Can Ease Growing NIMBYism and Community Concerns Around New Infrastructure Development
- 11:50am–12:30pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Colleen Sweet, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, iTOTEM Analytics
- Gregory Forero, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, HGP Intelligent Energy
- James Walker, Chief Executive Officer, NANO Nuclear Energy
- David Holt, President, Consumer Energy Alliance
- Moderator: Lauren Clay, Co-Founder and Vice President, Texas Nuclear Alliance
As communities across Texas face growing pressure from new infrastructure and rising electricity demand, local opposition — including resistance to high-voltage transmission lines and data centers — has become a central challenge to development. This panel will explore how nuclear energy’s load-following capabilities and co-location potential can help address those concerns by delivering reliable power closer to the point of use, reducing the need for extensive new transmission, and creating shared economic benefits. Panelists will discuss practical pathways for turning community resistance into partnership while advancing Texas’ energy and economic growth.
Buffet Lunch
- 12:30pm–1:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
Lunch Keynote: State of the U.S. Nuclear Industry
- 1:00pm-1:20pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Maria Korsnick, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nuclear Energy Institute
PANEL - From Design to Delivery: Managing Successful Nuclear Construction Programs
- 1:20pm–2:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Drew Walker, Co-Founder & COO, Apollo Atomics
- Tighe Smith, Chief Nuclear Officer, Mirion
- Scott Greer, Head of Construction Practice, Partner, King & Spalding LLP
- Anne-Charlotte Dagorn, VP North America, Assystem
- Moderator: Elina Teplinsky, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
As nuclear new build programs scale, success depends on getting the fundamentals of delivery right from the outset. This discussion will focus on key principles such as stabilizing design before construction begins, ensuring repeatability across units, and managing complexity through systems engineering, clear requirements definition, and strong interface management. Bringing these elements together can help nuclear projects achieve greater predictability, reduced risk, and improved overall performance.
Panel - A National Security Imperative:
Re-Domesticating America’s Nuclear Fuel Supply
- 2:00pm–2:30pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Brent Berg, Senior VP, Operations, Uranium Energy Corp
- Seah Oehlbert, Vice President of Corporate Business Strategy, Centrus Energy
- Dr. Magnus Mori, Head of Advanced Fuels, Commercial, Urenco
- Moderator: Elina Teplinsky, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Heavy reliance on foreign sources for uranium, enrichment, and other aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle poses a growing national security risk as demand for nuclear energy rises. This discussion will look at strategies to re-domesticate the nuclear fuel supply — expanding domestic uranium mining, rebuilding enrichment capacity, and strengthening production of critical fuel cycle materials — and hear from companies leading these efforts, which are essential to enhancing energy security, reducing strategic vulnerabilities, and supporting a more resilient U.S. nuclear industry.
Fireside Chat – Made in Texas:
Oklo’s Groves Isotope Reactor
- 2:30pm–3:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- William Goodwin, Chief Strategy Officer, Oklo
- Dason Maloney, President of General Construction, Century Construction
- Ben Horton, President, BCS Concrete Solutions
- Daniel Zimmerman, Principal, HillSide Architecture, PLLC
Built in record time, Oklo’s Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Caldwell County is the world’s fastest-built privately funded reactor of its kind. This fireside chat highlights the Texas suppliers and workforce — many from outside the traditional nuclear supply chain — who helped bring Groves from concept to construction. The conversation will explore how local manufacturers, skilled workers, and nontraditional partners made the project possible, and what it means for Texas as a growing hub for advanced nuclear deployment.
Networking Coffee Break
- 3:00pm–3:15pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
Panel - De-Risking Nuclear Investment: From Funding to Execution
- 3:15pm–3:50pm
The Post Oak Hotel
- Joseph Gnanapragasam, Director, Investment Banking, Bank of America
- John Ceviker, Managing Director, Head of Power and Energy Transition Investment Banking, Texas Capital
- Brennan Moore, Founder and Managing Partner, Nuclear Capital Partners
- Moderator: M.C. Hammond, Counsel, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Interest in nuclear energy is surging, but turning that momentum into deployed capital requires projects that investors, lenders and other financial partners can underwrite with confidence. What makes a nuclear project financeable? Where does risk sit across the development lifecycle? How can public and private capital work together to move projects from early development through construction and operation? From state investment and federal support to equity, debt, customer commitments and project execution, this discussion will explore what it will take to turn today’s nuclear pipeline into bankable projects.
Fireside Chat - The Economics of a Nuclear Texas
- 3:50pm–4:20pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Garrett Golding, Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
- Moderator: Charles Oppenheimer, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Oppenheimer Energy
Texas is adding load at a pace that is testing ERCOT’s energy-only design — and raising hard questions about how firm generation, including nuclear, gets financed. How much of the long-term forecast is real? Can co-location, long-term offtake, and targeted market reforms make new baseload bankable — or does the market still need to change? The conversation will also look past interconnection to the bigger prize: whether Texas captures the nuclear industrial base, not just the megawatts.
Panel - From License to Load: Accelerating New Reactor Projects in Texas
- 4:20pm–5:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Dr. Stuart Henderson Chief Technology Officer, Subcritical Systems
- John Swiger, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for APX, Westinghouse
- Ryan Lighty, Partner, Morgan Lewis
- Bethany Patton, Managing Director, Accenture
- Moderator: Ashleigh Myers, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
With multiple advanced reactor projects under development, the focus is shifting from concept to execution. This discussion will look at the licensing process for new nuclear projects, the role of federal and state coordination, and what it will take to move reactors from application to construction and operation—particularly in a state positioning itself as a leader in the nuclear renaissance.
Fireside Chat - Aalo Atomics: Lessons from Criticality, and What’s Next in Texas
- 5:00pm–5:30pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Yasir Arafat, Cofounder, CTO & President, Aalo Atomics
- Moderator: Charles Oppenheimer, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Oppenheimer Energy
Aalo Atomics is putting its vision for factory-built nuclear to the test. Following the successful criticality of its first reactor in July 2026, the Austin, Texas-based company is now working toward its first operating power plant and ultimately the commercial deployment of its 50 MWe Aalo Pod. This discussion will focus on what Aalo has learned by actually building a reactor, what comes next on the road to first power, the company’s plans to expand and grow in Texas, and whether a manufacturing-driven approach can deliver nuclear at the speed and scale today’s energy market demands.
Networking Happy Hour
- 5:30pm–7:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
Sponsored by Uranium Energy COrp
Wednesday, September 23
Check-in and Breakfast
- 7:00am–8:00am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
Special Video
- 8:00am–8:10am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
FIRESIDE CHAT - The Legislative Leaders Building Nuclear in Texas
- 8:10am–8:40am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Texas State Representative Cody Harris
- Texas State Representative Greg Bonnen
Panel - Ready for Growth? Nuclear Supply Chain Capacity, Risk, and Investment
- 8:40am–9:20am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Mike Scott, Managing Partner, Pelican Energy Partners
- Canon Bryan, Founder and CEO, SuperCritical Materials
- Doug VanTassell, Chief Executive Officer, Paragon Energy Solutions
- Moderator: Matthew Crozat, Executive Director, Nuclear Energy Institute
As nuclear energy expands in Texas and across the United States, the strength and readiness of the supply chain will determine how quickly and reliably new projects can be delivered. This discussion will examine current capacity constraints, investment opportunities, and emerging technologies shaping the nuclear supply chain — from advanced uranium recovery and radiation safety solutions to engineered equipment, digital compliance tools, and full-lifecycle support for operating plants and advanced reactors. From where capital is flowing, to what risks remain, and how industry and investors can position Texas to capture the economic benefits of a growing nuclear market and its supply chain, is Texas and the domestic nuclear industry ready for the expected growth, and what will it take to get there?
Panel - Time to Build at Dow Seadrift: Executing America’s First Commercial Industrial Nuclear Project
- 9:20am-10:00am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Dragan Popovic, Executive Vice President and Chief of Global Operations, X-energy
- Kreshka Young, North America Business Director, Energy and Climate, Dow
- Russ Shulz, Vice President, Project Management, Fluor
- Moderator: Sara Muhammad Malik, Sr. Director, Global Energy, Greater Houston Partnership
Texas has made the case that it is time to build — and this panel brings together partners that are putting that call into practice. X-energy, Dow, and Fluor will share the story of one of the most closely watched advanced nuclear efforts in the country: the project to deploy X-energy’s Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology at Dow’s Seadrift, Texas manufacturing site through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. Central to the discussion is a genuine first for the industry: progress toward the first commercial construction permit ever pursued for an advanced nuclear reactor to provide high-temperature process steam and electricity at an operating industrial facility. The panelists will walk through what it took to reach this point, including aligning a reactor developer, an industrial end user, and an EPC partner around a shared licensing and delivery pathway. They will then discuss what’s to come at Seadrift, as well as what the project’s imminent milestones signal for the broader effort to leverage U.S.-designed advanced reactors to bring power and process heat to American industry.
Networking Coffee Break
- 10:00am-10:10am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
FIRESIDE CHAT - Powering the Demand Boom: The Race to Scale Advanced Nuclear
- 10:10am-10:40am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- John Arnold, Co-founder and Co-chair, Arnold Ventures
- Moderator: Reed Clay, Founder and President, Texas Nuclear Alliance
PANEL - AI in Practice: What’s Working in Nuclear Today
- 10:40am-11:20am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Ahmer Rafiq, Managing Partner, XCIS AI
- Theresa Clark, Chief Nuclear Officer, Everstar AI
- Shea Krauskopf, Attorney, STP Nuclear Operating Company
- Moderator: Dr. Kevin Clarno, Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Nuclear plants already run on data. The question is whether AI becomes a tool operators trust, or another pilot that never leaves the conference room. And, with a large share of the nuclear workforce approaching retirement, can AI help capture decades of institutional knowledge and put it in the hands of the next generation of engineers and operators? From engineering, maintenance, reliability, and operations to knowledge management, this conversation gets into the realities of implementation: data readiness, cybersecurity, governance, workforce adoption, and validation.
FIRESIDE CHAT - Lone Star Leadership: Nuclear Policy, Power and Progress
- 11:20am–11:50am
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Stacey Doré, Executive Vice President over Corporate Strategy, Vistra
- Moderator: Jarred Shaffer, Director, Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office
Texas has made an ambitious commitment to expanding nuclear energy, but translating policy support into new generation will ultimately depend on projects that make commercial sense. As operator of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, and one of Texas’s largest power generators, Vistra brings a unique perspective on the value of the existing nuclear fleet, the realities of investing in new generation, and the market conditions needed to support future deployment. This discussion will focus on what Texas is getting right, where challenges remain, and what it will take to turn the state’s nuclear momentum into new megawatts.
Panel - Is Nuclear the Perfect Partner for Texas Oil & Gas? Process Heat, Power, and Water Solutions
- 11:50am-12:30pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Jeffrey Harper, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, ZettaJoule
- Brent Muth, DIrector, The Open Group
- Nick Morriss, Managing Director, Veriten
Houston and Texas have spent decades building one of the world’s most sophisticated industrial energy ecosystems. Now, advanced nuclear developers are looking beyond the electric grid to applications across oil and gas and heavy industry—from reliable power and high-temperature process heat to water treatment and co-location. But technical capability alone doesn’t create a market. This discussion brings together nuclear technology, research, workforce and industrial end-user perspectives to examine where nuclear can solve real problems for Texas industry, what customers need before they are willing to adopt it, and whether Texas’s existing energy workforce, supply chain and project-development expertise can provide the foundation for industrial nuclear deployment at scale.
Buffet Lunch
- 12:30pm–1:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
Fireside Chat - Homegrown Nuclear: The Companies Founded, Building, and Deploying in Texas
- 1:00pm-1:30pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Jordan Robison, Chief Executive Officer, Natura Resources
- Canon Bryan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Supercritical Materials
The phrase “I wasn’t born here, but I got here as fast as I could,” can apply to a lot of the companies leading the Second Atomic Age, with nuclear companies flocking to Texas looking for partnerships and places to deploy. But in this discussion we’re bringing together two CEOs of Texas-based nuclear companies for a look at what it takes to found, finance, build, and scale a nuclear business in the state — and what they need from policy, capital, and partners to stay and grow here.
Fireside Chat - Fueling the Nuclear Future: Uranium Production in Texas
- 1:30pm-2:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Dain McCoig, Chief Operating Officer, enCore Energy
Networking Coffee Break
- 2:00pm-2:10pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Foyer
PANEL - Campus Contenders: Hearing From DOE’s NLIC Finalists
- 2:10pm–2:50pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Brandon O. Gibson, Chief Operating Officer, Tennessee Governor’s Office
- Glenn Davis, Sr. Energy Advising Partner, West Virginia Office of Energy
- M.C. Hammond, Counsel, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
- Moderator: Dr. David Staack, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, The Texas A&M University System
Panel - From Policy to Power: Deploying Nuclear in Texas
- 2:50pm-3:30pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Thomas O’Neill, Chief Commercial Officer, Blue Energy
- Luke Rice, Vice President of Engineering, Last Energy
- Sarfraz Taj, Vice President for Business Development, Terrestrial Energy
- Steve Smith, Mission Manager, Antares Nuclear
- Moderator: Elisa Gleeson, Deputy Director, Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office (TANEO)
Is Texas ready to lead the coming wave of advanced nuclear deployment? This discussion will dig into the real-world challenges and advantages of building nuclear projects in the Lone Star State, including supply chain, workforce readiness, funding pathways, site selection, the state’s tax and regulatory landscape, and the fast-growing customer base of driving demand for reliable, always-on power.
Closing Remarks
- 3:30pm-4:00pm
The Post Oak Hotel, Grand Ballroom
- Reed Clay, Founder and President, Texas Nuclear Alliance