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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
DOE extends Centrus’s HALEU production contract by one year
Centrus Energy has announced that it has secured a contract extension from the Department of Energy to continue—for one year—its ongoing high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) production at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, at an annual rate of 900 kilograms of HALEU UF6. According to Centrus, the extension is valued at about $110 million through June 30, 2026.
Dr. Nunzio J. Palladino was the 16th president of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). He was a member of the Society since its start in 1954 and elevated to a Fellow of ANS in 1964.
Dr. Palladino served as Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from July 1, 1981 to June 30, 1986.
Dr. Nunzio Palladino was born on November 10, 1916. From 1959 until his appointment to the NRC in 1981, Dr. Palladino was a member of the faculty at Pennsylvania State University. He served as the first head of the department of the Nuclear Engineering Department there. In that capacity, he was responsible for development and implementation of course work and graduate programs and research in nuclear engineering. He became Dean of the College of Engineering in 1966 and served in that capacity until he joined the NRC in 1981.
He worked for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation for twenty years before going to Penn State, including four years on loan to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. In 1950-59, while working at Westinghouse, Dr. Palladino was in charge of reactor core design for the Submarine Prototype Reactor, Mark I; for the Nautilus Reactor; and for the Shippingport Atomic Power Station. In World War II he was a captain in the Army and served in Europe.
Dr. Palladino served on many committees including the Governor’s Energy Council and the Governor’s Science Advisory Committee for which he chaired the Energy Management Subcommittee; member and chairman of both the Pennsylvania Advisory Committee on Atomic Energy Development and Radiation Control and the U.S. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards which reviews all nuclear plants proposed for construction and operation in the United States. He was also a member of the Governor’s Commission on Three Mile Island, and participated on a Nuclear Regulatory Commission Special Task Force to evaluate the clean-up activities at Three Mile Island, which culminated in the preparation of a report submitted to the NRC Commissioners. He was also a member of the National Nuclear Accrediting Board for several years.
In 1958 he was awarded the Westinghouse Order of Merit for Technical Direction of Reactor Designs of the Nautilus and Shippingport power plants; in 1956 he received the Prime Movers award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for his work on the Shippingport plant.
Dr. Palladino received his BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University in 1938 and 1939. In addition, he did graduate work in nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee and in business and management at the University of Pittsburgh. Lehigh University awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering in 1964.
Dr. Nunzio Palladino passed away on December 12, 1999.
Read Nuclear News from July 1970 for more on N. J. Palladino.
