INTERNATIONAL
SYNTHETIC FUELS CONFERENCE 2024 (ISFC-2024)

Theme: Integration of Nuclear & Hydrogen for Energy Transition

August 19-20, 2024

About the Conference

Hydrogen has an important role to play in the decarbonization of industry and transport sector. While hydrogen produced from renewable electricity is an important part of the low carbon future, nuclear hydrogen is also equally clean and has considerably higher potential to contribute to future energy scenario for deep decarbonization. Various hydrogen production technologies which can be coupled with nuclear energy include electrolysis, high temperature steam electrolysis and thermochemical processes. Nuclear power here is produced through a variety of nuclear reactors, which includes small modular reactors, high temperature reactors and innovative accelerator based nuclear technologies. International Synthetic Fuels Conference (ISFC 2024) is aimed at bringing together all stake holders on one platform to discuss the opportunity and challenges in nuclear hydrogen and arrive at a road map for future hydrogen economy in India.

Vision and Goal

Health and well-being of the world’s Humanity requires clean Air and Water.
Economic and high-density Nuclear Energy has all the attributes to meet the goals of providing clean Air and Water.
The long-term sought-after Hydrogen Economy is also viable with clean and abundant Nuclear Energy.
The present IC engine-based economy requires carbon fuels and this can be augmented with the help of nuclear hydrogen and the Ocean CO₂ via Synthesized Fuels and not by digging up coal and oil.
Therefore, the vision of ISFC-2024 is elimination of un-sequestering of carbon from coal and fossil fuels economically.
The ISFC-2024 is aiming to bring all the stakeholders on a single platform at GITAM (Deemed to be University) Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India and chalk out a simple and economically viable path forward for providing the basic fundamental requirements of clean Air and Water for Humanity.

Organizers

Agenda

09:30 - 10:10

Inaugural Function
KRC auditorium, GITAM

10:10 - 10:45

Plenary Talk by:
Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog and Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

10:45 - 11:00

Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:00

Plenary Talks by:
Shri Tarun Kapoor Advisor to Prime Minister, India on Energy Transition
Shri Dinesh Kumar Shukla, Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, India

12:00 - 13:20

Session-1:
Global and High Temperature Nuclear Programs

Chair and Moderator
Dr. Ganapati Myneni, Virginia Institutes

Co-Chair
Dr. Unnati Gupta, Amity University

Speakers:

Andrew Paterson, George Washington University: A Review of World's Nuclear Energy Programs
Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Chairman AEC India and Secretary DAE: Indian Nuclear Energy Programs for Net Zero
Roger Barlow, Huddersfield University: Review of High Temperature Nuclear Reactors
Lars Jorgensen, ThorCon International: ThorCon Molten Salt Reactors Power Plants

Panel Discussion

13:20 - 14:00

Lunch Break

14:00 - 15:15

Session-2:
Advance Subcritical Micro Reactors 1

Chair
Arpita Datta, Amity University

Co-Chair
Prof. B.V.R Tata, GITAM

Speakers:

Asiya Rumanna, Huddersfield University: Neutronics of BSCE ASMR
David Blond, Querinternational: Economics of BSCE ASMR for Replacing High Temperature Heat Sources
Archana Sharma, BARC: Electron Accelerator Programs in BARC

Panel Discussion

15:15 – 15:30

Tea Break

15:30 – 17:15

Session-3:
Advance Subcritical Micro Reactors 2

Chair and Moderator:
Archana Sharma, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Co-Chair:
Prof. G. Ravi Kumar, GITAM

Speakers:

Vegraj Singh, Scientific Advisor, Team Best: Bharatron for Nuclear Applications
Kailash Mittal, BSCE Bharat Ltd: Breeding of U-233 from Th-232 with Electron Beam Systems
Arpita Datta, Amity University: Separation of Protactinium from Th-232 and U-233 in MSR Fuel - A Review

Panel Discussion

19:00 - 21:00

Banquet Dinner (Hotel Dasapalla)
Plenary Addresses
Harish Yarlagadda Dharmavana: Nature Ark
Reji Pillai: Role of Nuclear and Smart Grids for Net Zero Transition

09:00 - 11:30

Session-4:
Hydrogen and Electrolyzers

Chair & Moderator:
Anshu Bhardwaj, Project Director, Green Transition & Climate, NITI Aayog*

Co-Chair:
Prof. N. Srinivas, GITAM

Speakers:

James Miller, Argonne National Lab: A Review of US DOE Hydrogen Programs
Mahendra Sunkara, Louisville University: Hydrogen Research Programs at Louisville
Amgad Elgowainy, Argonne National Lab: Technoeconomic Aspects of Nuclear Hydrogen Production
Sreedevi Upadhyayula, IIT Delhi: Hydrogen from Iodine Sulphur Cycle – Nuclear Waste Heat to Wealth

Panel Discussion

11:30 - 11:45

TEA BREAK

11:45 - 13:00

Session-5:
New Technologies and Future Directions

Chair and Moderator:
DMR Panda, National Thermal Power Corporation

Co-Chair:
Prof. K.V. Ramesh, GITAM

Speakers:

Sarat Chandra Babu, NIT Tiruchirappalli: CO₂ No Longer A Menace!!!- Reaction path that allows CO₂ as the most sought-after molecule - Role of Material Science and AI/ML
Ranganathan Gurunathan, Bloom Energy: A Review of High Temperature Electrolyzers*
Ritwick Ghosh, NTPC Limited: Green Hydrogen at Nuclear Stations – Future Directions
Siddartha Mayur, H2E: SOE Technology with Waste Heat for Hydrogen Generation
Ravindra Vashist, Ex-Hexagon: Large Scale Hydrogen Storage

Panel Discussion

13:00 - 14:00

Lunch Break

14:00 - 15:30

Session-6:
Synthetic Fuels and Ocean Methane

Chair and Moderator:
Reji Pillai , India Smart Grid Forum

Co-Chair:
Prof. N.V.S. Venugopal, GITAM

Speakers:

Robert Hargrave, ThorCon International: Review of Synthetic Fuels
Joe Selliken, Release of Ocean Methane

Panel Discussion

15:30 - 16:00

Tea and Snacks

Committee

Prof. Abhay Karandikar

Secretary, DST

Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty

Chairman, DAE

Mr. Andrew Paterson

MPP and PhD Candidate, George Mason University, VA, USA

Dr. David Blond

Director, Querinternational, USA

Prof. Gouthama Rao Yejju

Vice-Chancellor (In-charge), GITAM

Dr. Ganapati Myneni

Director, VT-India Nuclear Energy Partnership, USA

Shri Gurdeep Singh

CMD, NTPC

Dr. James Miller

Deputy Division Director, Argonne National Lab, USA

Dr. D. Gunasekaran

Registrar, GITAM

Dr. Joe Selliken

Co-founder, BSCE Systems, Inc., USA

Prof. K.S. Krishna

Dean of Sciences, GITAM

Shri Krishnan Suthanthiran

President, Team Best

Prof. Mahendra Sunkara

University of Louisville, USA

Dr. (Mrs.) N. Kalaiselvi

Director General, CSIR & Secretary DSIR

Prof. Robert Hargraves

Co-Founder, ThorCon International

Prof. Roger Barlow

Emeritus Professor, Huddersfield University, UK

Dr. V.K. Saraswat

Member, NITI Aayog

Shri Vivek Bhasin

Director, BARC

Prof. V.S.R.K. Prasad

Chair, Former Director, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy

Dr. Alpana Goel

Director, AINST, Amity University

Dr. Archana Sharma

Group Director, BARC

Dr. Avinash Chandra Pandey

Director, IUAC

Dr. C.G. Karhadkar,

Director, IGCAR

Shri DMR Panda

CGM, NTPC

Dr. Sumit Som

Director, VECC

Dr Shalivahan Srivastava

Director, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy

Shri T.A. Puntambekar

Group Director, RRCAT

Shri Umesh D. Maishe

Director, RRCAT

Dr. Vegraj Singh

Scientific Advisor, Team Best