ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Shunsuke Endo, Atsushi Kimura, Shoji Nakamura, Osamu Iwamoto, Nobuyuki Iwamoto, Gerard Rovira, Yosuke Toh, Mariko Segawa, Makoto Maeda
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 4 | April 2024 | Pages 786-803
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2227826
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The neutron total and capture cross sections of 181Ta were measured at the Accurate Neutron-Nucleus Research Measurement Instrument of the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility in the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex to improve the accuracy of the current resonance parameters. The total cross section was determined from the transmission measurement in the energy range from 0.2 to 150 eV. The capture cross section was derived from the capture yield using the pulse height weighting technique in the energy range from thermal to 150 eV. The thermal neutron capture cross section was measured as b. The obtained transmission and capture cross section were simultaneously fitted using the resonance analysis code REFIT, and the resonance parameters for resonances below 150 eV were evaluated. The present resonance parameters were compared to reported measurements.