Nuclear and Plasma Solutions for Energy and Society

The Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) launched a significant initiative in 2024 to address the urgent need for mitigating the effects of climate change. This effort began with a workshop held during the Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference in Tampa, Florida, on October 27, 2024. This position paper synthesizes the workshop’s discussions and outlines a strategic roadmap for leveraging nuclear and plasma technologies in combating climate change, highlighting technical opportunities for the NPSS community. It further aims to guide future NPSS initiatives in the nuclear energy transition and standards, identify key research priorities within and outside the core activities of the society, and promote interdisciplinary collaborations across IEEE societies and with external partners to pursue common goals in the nuclear energy and applications sectors. A collaboration exploring the technical features of microreactors involving several IEEE partners is already planned for 2026, as well as an IEEE industrial paper on the standardization of Small Modular Reactors.