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.
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
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
May 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Sam Altman steps down as Oklo board chair
Advanced nuclear company Oklo Inc. has new leadership for its board of directors as billionaire Sam Altman is stepping down from the position he has held since 2015. The move is meant to open new partnership opportunities with OpenAI, where Altman is CEO, and other artificial intelligence companies.
Dr. William Burchill retired from a career in nuclear energy that spanned over 35 years focusing on nuclear safety. He is a member of the ANS Nuclear Installations Safety; Education, Training, & Workforce Development; and Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Divisions.
Before retiring, he was an HTRI Professor and Department Head of Nuclear Engineering for five years at Texas A&M University. Prior to that, he spent five years as the Risk Management Director at Commonwealth Edison/Exelon Nuclear.
Dr. Burchill’s career also included three years at Pennsylvania Power & Light and 25 years with Combustion Engineering (C-E), where his last position was Director, Operations and Field Engineering Services. He led the C-E response to the Three Mile Island accident.
Dr. Burchill earned a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering (Nuclear Option) from the Missouri School of Mines & Metallurgy, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He also holds an M.S. in Management from the Hartford Graduate Center of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
He was given the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering by UIUC, and in 2011 he was presented the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from the College of Engineering at the UIUC. He was presented the 2017 Leadership Award from ANS and the 2020 Walter Zinn Medal from ANS. He was elected to be an ANS Fellow in 2021.
He is a past chair of the International Nuclear Societies Council.
Read Nuclear News from July 2008 for more on Bill.
Last modified May 31, 2022, 12:35pm CDT