2027 NAPE Summit

Jointly hosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute, NECX brings together utilities, advanced reactor developers, suppliers, regulators, policymakers, investors, engineers, researchers, project leaders, and innovators. Programming includes executive plenaries, technical sessions, and expert-led discussions focused on nuclear deployment, commercialization, investment, and industry growth. Focus areas include advanced nuclear deployment; manufacturing and AI innovation; regulatory affairs; project integration; supply-chain sourcing; workforce development; plant reliability and engineering; and emergency preparedness. The expo-hall Spotlight Stage features presentations on emerging technologies, practical insights, and solutions related to nuclear deployment, operations, innovation, and commercialization.

The forum brings together cleantech innovators, investors, corporates, and other ecosystem participants to address grid stability, water scarcity, waste-to-value, critical minerals, and geopolitical pressures on supply chains and energy security. The program includes a closed-door, peer-level executive roundtable and an opening plenary covering cleantech trends, capital flows, innovation, and the 2027 Global Cleantech 100. Agenda topics include nuclear fuel supply and nuclear supply chains; mineral processing, refining, recovery, and the post-mining supply chain; physical AI applications in grid construction, critical minerals, and dual-use; data-center power demand, grid capacity, water use, cooling, and wastewater resource recovery. Other sessions address heat resilience, energy efficiency for AI compute, geopolitical risk across energy and cleantech supply chains, and investor perspectives on cleantech funding. Innovation Showcases feature cleantech companies presenting technologies and business models.

An intensive workshop on projected electricity demand and expanding the supply of natural resources used to generate power. Topics include natural gas, geothermal development and repurposing oil and gas assets; hydrogen, uranium, lithium and critical minerals; and water, environmental, storage, site-selection and regulatory considerations. Program discussions cover grid shortfalls and raw materials for electricity generation, solutions for increasing electricity supply, geothermal, and technology including ORC, sensors and small nuclear reactors. Other sessions address AI prompts for grid and behind-the-meter planning; lithium direct lithium extraction (DLE) and hydrogen technologies; regulatory and legislative factors affecting geothermal, critical minerals, low-carbon energy, grids and data centers; and mining and oil-and-gas intersections, including near-surface imaging and copper for electricity transmission. The program also includes an AI prompt clinic focused on water, the environment, science and regulations.

The forum examines North American power markets across renewables, conventional generation, utilities, data centers, commercial and industrial offtakers, and government. Topics include energy-policy consistency and consequential legislation; the effects of tariffs, tax-credit regulation, geopolitical conflict, interest rates, and industry consolidation on costs and demand; FERC interconnection reform and transmission investment; and whether domestic solar and storage manufacturing can compete under changing trade and incentive rules. The program also addresses data-center and AI-driven load growth, local opposition and project approvals, equipment and workforce constraints, powered land, gas paired with battery storage, battery operations and project economics, and mergers and acquisitions in power development. Other sessions examine hyperscaler nuclear strategies, clean firm and dispatchable power, long-duration storage, geothermal, small modular reactors, gas with CCS, aging renewable assets, behind-the-meter storage, large-load flexibility, and utility–data center collaboration. Roundtable topics include understanding FEOC and tariffs, overcoming local opposition, operations and maintenance, flexibility programs, EPC partnerships, and behind-the-meter projects.

The technical program covers mining research and operational innovation, including AI, robotics and automation; advanced process control and digital twins; mineral processing, metallurgy and critical minerals; and bulk material handling, transfer-chute engineering and dust mitigation. Presentations address rare-earth extractant modeling, nickel leaching, copper flotation, sensor drift in AI systems, and coal mining beneath water bodies. The program includes the Robert E. Murray Innovation Award Lecture and the Dreyer Lecture. Conference registration includes technical sessions, keynote sessions, poster sessions, digital technical preprints, and access to the Western Mining Summit and the expo.

The program spans project execution, nuclear energy, and grids, AI, and infrastructure. Sessions address financing and delivering the U.S. energy buildout; grid capacity, interconnection, transmission, reliability, and cost allocation; and the effects of data-center and industrial demand on power planning. Nuclear topics include power for data centers, first-of-a-kind project cost and delivery, nuclear finance, HALEU and fuel supply, utility choices among large reactors, SMRs, and microreactors, and pathways to SMR deployment. Other sessions cover LNG security, trade, and investment; energy storage and grid-edge technologies; AI in energy operations; and project bankability, permitting, policy, supply-chain, and delivery risks. The program also includes executive roundtables, a project-execution clinic, and an energy startup pitch competition.

Sessions examine natural gas market fundamentals for AI data center demand, including basin capabilities, rig activity, storage trends, pipeline bottlenecks, competition with LNG exports and other electricity demand, and commercial strategies for procurement, hedging, and risk management. The program also addresses AI and predictive analytics for pipeline nominations, forecasting, capacity management, and gas-flow optimization, plus integration with ERP, ETRM, CRM, and SCADA systems. Infrastructure discussions cover pipeline capacity, reliability and right-of-way; regional transmission, distribution and generation investment; federal-land development models; and the commercial and regulatory structures needed to advance large-load projects. Utility service challenges include pipeline limitations, public perception, permitting, capital requirements, commercial structuring, cost allocation, reliability obligations, and protecting existing customers. A developers roundtable covers demand forecasts versus speculative projects, developer qualifications, speed-to-power and behind-the-meter strategies, gas procurement, community hurdles, and regulatory and policy issues. Other sessions address mobile gas delivery and virtual pipelines, including CNG/LNG solutions for remote or capacity-constrained markets. The keynote considers AI-driven electricity demand, gas and electric utility bottlenecks, regional load growth, and nuclear energy. A Texas-focused panel examines policy, technology, research, planning, permitting, investment, and cross-sector coordination for large-load development, including data centers and advanced manufacturing.

The conference theme is “Pipeline to Possibilities: Securing Energy, Shaping Futures.” Stakeholder Engagement & Outreach covers community and public engagement, API Recommended Practices 1162 and 1185, environmental justice, Tribal and First Nation considerations, emergency responder education, and damage prevention. Pipeline Operational Excellence addresses safety performance, in-line inspection lessons, pipeline safety management systems, safety culture, management of change, asset remediation, and operational and enterprise risk management. Technology, AI & Innovation includes inspection tools, engineering practices, control room technologies, artificial intelligence, API RP 1165, and emerging fuels. Workforce Training & Development covers succession planning, knowledge transfer, recruitment and retention, multigenerational workforces, operator qualification, inspector certification, and competency-based learning. Sustainability & New Fuels addresses CO2, hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels; safety, integrity, leak detection, corrosion management, emergency preparedness, methane emissions, and environmental stewardship. Other tracks address pipeline construction, project management, commissioning, major maintenance, contract management and trenchless technologies; leak detection systems and predictive analytics; SCADA/OT modernization, industrial control system cybersecurity, threat response and regulatory compliance; and alarm and control room management, including fatigue mitigation, controller training, management of change, records, and regulatory interpretations.

The summit examines how AI-driven demand, geopolitical tensions, and electrification are reshaping energy systems. Discussion themes include building power, infrastructure, and supply chains, and who will fund, deliver, and benefit from the next phase of growth. The event brings together perspectives from energy, technology, digital infrastructure, and finance.