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2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Getting back to yes: A local perspective on decommissioning, restart, and responsibility
For 45 years, Duane Arnold Energy Center operated in Linn County, Ia., near the town of Palo and just northwest of Cedar Rapids. The facility, owned by NextEra Energy, was the only nuclear power plant in the state.
In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.
Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.
The American Nuclear Society, in partnership with Discovery Education and the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, provides the highest standard in nuclear science education with Navigating Nuclear: Energizing Our WorldTM. This dynamic, standards-aligned program invites students to explore the many applications of nuclear science and its impact on energy, healthcare, food, and the environment through an interactive suite of FREE classroom resources.
Engage your students with curriculum for grades 3 through 12 backed by the expertise of leaders in nuclear science—the members of the American Nuclear Society. Resources include STEM project starters, digital lesson plans, nuclear industry career profiles, and exciting Virtual Field Trips! Navigating Nuclear provides you with the roadmap to successfully explore this topic in the classroom and make nuclear science accessible and exciting for students!
Learn More About the Program
Designed to increase understanding of nuclear energy and nuclear technology applications, Navigating Nuclear provides you with the tools to dig deeper into the role of nuclear science in fields like power generation, medicine, space exploration, food preservation, molecular science, and more.
Guide your students through the world of nuclear energy and related fields with digital lesson plans, project starters, career resources, and more to power up the learning in your classroom!
The need for a capable workforce qualified in STEM is growing and nuclear science offers many different pathways to successful careers. Get to know nuclear science professionals and learn how their experiences led them to nuclear energy and other exciting nuclear science fields.
Navigating Nuclear Virtual Field Trips take students behind the scenes to some of the most interesting places in the world—or even in this galaxy! Tour the largest nuclear power plant in the United States. Explore Idaho National Laboratory and meet the men and women discovering solutions to our energy challenges. Or travel into deep space to imagine how humans might live on the moon, Mars, or even further!
