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
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2022)
August 7–10, 2022
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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
Jun 2022
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2022
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Carbon value: Lifetime extensions of nuclear reactors could save billions in climate mitigation costs
On the road to achieving net-zero by midcentury, low- or no-carbon energy sources that slash carbon dioxide emissions are critical weapons. Nevertheless, the role of nuclear energy—the single largest source of carbon-free electricity—remains uncertain.
Nuclear energy, which provides 20 percent of the electricity in the United States, has been a constant, reliable, carbon-free source for nearly 50 years. But our fleet of nuclear reactors is aging, with more than half of the 92 operating reactors across 29 states at or over 40 years old—the length of the original operating licenses issued to the power plants. While some reactors have been retired prematurely, there are two options for those that remain: retire them or renew their license.
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Nuclear technology may have come a long way in the past 60-70 years, but new ideas have the possibility of moving at a much faster pace in today's advanced scientific environment.
Those who work in nuclear professions recognize the many benefits that nuclear technologies currently bring to our lives, and are driven to continuously make them better and to take them in new and exciting directions.
That is what the Nuclear Grand Challenges project is about.
American Nuclear Society members were involved in the selection process, because they are the specialists best positioned to know the current landscape and potential for the future of nuclear technologies. The project was launched at the ANS 2016 Winter Meeting with a roundtable brainstorming session with more than 125 nuclear professionals. ANS members, as well as the public, were then invited to submit their ideas.
Nearly 300 proposed challenges were analyzed and vetted by the appropriate ANS Professional Division(s). Each division selected one to three Division Grand Challenges. A selection committee including all ANS division chairs and board of directors members identified nine ANS Nuclear Grand Challenges that were announced at the ANS Annual Meeting on June 12, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
The results are the ANS Nuclear Grand Challenges below. These will provide an opportunity for ANS members and other interested parties to drive conversations about the issues needed to be addressed to advance the benefits of nuclear science and technology for future generations.
Last modified June 12, 2017, 2:20pm CDT
