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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Argonne creates new methodology for digital twins
Hu
Argonne National Laboratory has added a new twist to digital twin technology for research into nuclear energy. According to Rui Hu, a principal nuclear engineer at Argonne, “Our digital twin technology introduces a significant step toward understanding and managing advanced nuclear reactors, enabling us to predict and respond to changes with the required speed and accuracy.”
The research of Hu and his colleagues, “Development of Whole System Digital Twins for Advanced Reactors: Leveraging Graph Neural Networks and SAM Simulations,” was published in the American Nuclear Society journal Nuclear Technology.
Virtual representation: A digital twin technology is an accurate virtual representation of a complex system. It is updated with real-time data from sensors applied to the physical system, such as a nuclear reactor.
Dr. Andrew Kadak has been a member of the American Nuclear Society for 40 years. He is an ANS Fellow. Dr. Kadak is currently president of Kadak Associates, Inc., consulting on the decommissioning of nuclear plants and has served on safety review boards of various nuclear utilities. His diverse background includes nuclear plant operations, senior executive utility management, and teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Dr. Kadak has led license renewal of operating reactors, systematic evaluation of older plants to allow them to demonstrate compliance to new regulations, financial rate proceedings to assure adequate capital for safe operation, innovative fuel purchase agreements, high level nuclear waste disposal, and storage solutions. His technical background has allowed him to actively direct regulatory strategy dealing with reactor vessel embrittlement, safety analyses, boiling water reactor pipe replacements and how to manage aging nuclear plants.
Internationally, Dr. Kadak also served on the Senior Nuclear Safety Oversight Board of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Stations in Guangdong Province, China, and participated in an IAEA inspection of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Station after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Dr. Kadak was formerly President and CEO of the Yankee Atomic Electric Company (YAEC) that operated the Yankee Atomic Nuclear Power station. During his tenure there, he held project management positions supporting stations such as Vermont Yankee, Maine Yankee, and Seabrook station. He was Vice President of the Nuclear Engineering Services before becoming President and CEO.
He has served as a board and executive committee member of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the industry’s Advisory Committee on High Level Waste in addition to many nuclear industry committees such as Edison Electric Institute, the Electric Council of New England, and the Electric Power Research Institute. In 2005, Dr. Kadak was named by President Bush to serve on the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board for two four-year terms.
From 1998 to 2010, Dr. Kadak was a Professor of the Practice in the Nuclear Engineering Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research interests include the development of advanced reactors, in particular the high temperature pebble bed gas reactor, space nuclear power systems, improved technology neutral licensing standards for advanced reactors and operations and management issues of existing nuclear power plants.
He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Union College, an MS in Nuclear Engineering from Northeastern University (MBA) and his PhD, in Nuclear Engineering - Reactor Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Read Nuclear News from July 1999 for more on Andrew.
