Governance

Hageman

Cole

Sarah Elizabeth Cole of Boise State University and Abbey Hageman of the University of Nevada–Reno were recently selected as the American Nuclear Society participants in the 2023 Washington Internships for Students in Engineering (WISE) program. Cole is majoring in materials science and engineering and expects to graduate in the spring of 2025; Hageman is majoring in materials engineering with minors in mechanical engineering and mathematics and has a graduation date of spring 2024. These two scholars will join students sponsored by other engineering organizations for nine weeks throughout the summer.

Earlier this year, the American Nuclear Society's newly formed Special Committee on Certification started conducting market research with the help of a third party contractor to determine the viability of a nuclear certification program. An initial survey was sent to the membership back in March with the goal of determining what certification programs were already available and what type of certification program ANS could develop to benefit the community.

The month of April, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, is a time for transformation and growth as we emerge from the depths of winter—and it is also the time we learn of the newest American Nuclear Society members elected to positions of leadership. Not only did members vote for the next vice president/president-elect but the treasurer position was also up for grabs along with six board of director positions. The election opened on February 21 and closed April 11, with 20 percent of eligible ANS members voting (roughly the average turnout over the last few years).

The American Nuclear Society election is now open, and ANS members can vote for the Society’s next vice president/president-elect and the treasurer.

Each member can help select the new leaders who will guide ANS into the future. This election is an opportunity for members to have a voice and shape the direction of the Society. Elected leaders will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of ANS in the following year and working to further its mission of advancing nuclear science and technology. The leaders also will be responsible for representing the interests of ANS and its members and for ensuring that the Society remains at the forefront of nuclear innovation and discovery.

Last year, American Nuclear Society volunteer leadership and ANS staff began the process of investigating the creation of a nuclear certification program to be developed and administered by ANS. Shortly after the Annual Meeting in June 2022, the Certification Committee, chaired by Rebecca Steinman, was formed. Members include ANS President Steven Arndt, Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar, Chip Lagdon, Christina Leggett, John Mahoney, Craig Piercy, Catherine Prat, Alexandra Siwy, Tracy Stover, Josh Vajda, and Art Wharton.

While still lacking a deep geological repository for the permanent disposal of its commercial used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, the United States does have regulatory standards for geological nuclear waste disposal.

Having been written nearly 40 years ago, however, those standards are outmoded and lack transparency, according to a special committee of the American Nuclear Society, which has released draft recommendations on revising public health and safety standards for future geological repository projects in the United States.

LA GRANGE PARK, Illinois – Today, the American Nuclear Society (ANS) released draft recommendations on updating public health and safety standards for the permanent disposal of commercial used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at future geological repository projects in the United States. The draft report provides a recommended framework for revisiting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) geologic repository standards.

The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (professional divisions, ANS governance, local sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to that of a professional. With this mission statement in mind, the YMG decided to gamify member engagement to encourage YMG member participation in Society events.

At this year’s Winter Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, American Nuclear Society President Steven Arndt honored four ANS members with Presidential Citations. The president of ANS has the privilege of presenting presidential citations to individuals who, in their opinion, have demonstrated outstanding effort in some manner for the benefit of ANS and/or the nuclear community.

The awards are “highlighted throughout our community as a personal outreach to our recipients to say, ‘well done,’” said Arndt.

Nuclear energy is no longer on the fringes of the international climate conversation. At COP27, the United Nations climate change conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6 to 18, pronuclear advocates were everywhere—and they were talking to everyone. They populated the International Atomic Energy Agency’s #Atoms4Climate pavilion, the first-ever nuclear pavilion in the 27-year history of the negotiations. Echoing such strong representation, the final statement issued by the conference used language that included nuclear power.