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
WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
Dr. Thomas L. Sanders joined the American Nuclear Society (ANS) in 1987, joining the Fuel Cycle and Waste Management, Nuclear Criticality and Nuclear Nonproliferation Divisions. Since the start of his membership at ANS, he has served as Vice President, President, and Board Executive.
Currently, he is the Associate Laboratory Director for Clean Energy Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), LLC, where he is responsible for developing new opportunities in energy technology development.
Dr. Sanders is a recognized expert on international relations and has been working on rebuilding the U.S. nuclear export industry through the development of small modular. Prior to working at SRNL, he spent 27 years at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL).
He was appointed to a second term on the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC), which serves the Secretary of Commerce on trade issues facing the U.S. civil nuclear industry. Additionally, Dr. Sanders was selected as a U.S. member of Russian President Medvedev’s Global Energy Prize Committee and was the cofounder and former Vice President of the American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness (ACGNC).
His many accomplishments include testifying to Congress, the Blue Ribbon Commission, and Secretarial Officers from DOE, the Departments of State and Defense, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and other agencies. He also developed a complementary partnership initiative between seven U.S. and nine Russian Lab Directors.
Dr. Sanders earned a BS, MS and PhD from the University of Texas – Austin in Nuclear Engineering. He has authored more than 100 journal articles and papers on subjects from fusion and fast fission breeder reactor systems, to criticality safety of spent fuel transport, storage, and disposal systems. He is a member of ACGNC, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management.
He also served as a nuclear operator and supervisor on U.S. Navy nuclear submarines.
Read Nuclear News from July 2009 for more on Thomas.
