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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
L. C. Carlson, E. L. Alfonso, H. Huang, A. Nikroo, M. E. Schoff, M. N. Emerich, T. Bunn, N. A. Antipa, J. B. Horner
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 67 | Number 4 | May 2015 | Pages 762-770
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-833
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Capsules for inertial confinement fusion require precise measurement of isolated features and domes on the capsule's outer surface. Features that are too large must be removed. A 4pi capsule mapping and characterization system has been developed to map, identify, and measure domes using a Leica confocal microscope. An ultraviolet wavelength laser was integrated to laser-ablate the offending domes that exceed the allowable mix mass. Current process methods to remove domes require three different stations in different locations. The 4pi system achieves automated capsule handling, metrology, and laser polishing/ablation of domes on one device without losing track of the capsule's orientation. The measurement technique and metrology accuracy are compared to patch atomic force microscopy scans and phase-shifting diffraction interferometer measurements with good correlation. The laser polishing method has demonstrated analogous results to the current process methods, but in an automated fashion. Additionally, the 4pi capsule-handling capability of the system has been used to laser-ablate purposeful engineered designs into specialty capsules.