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
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
VIEW RECIPIENTSSUBMIT NOMINATION
Nomination Deadline
December 1
Presented at the
Annual Conference
Monetary Award
$1,000
The George C. Laurence Pioneering Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding pioneering contributions to the field of nuclear reactor safety philosophy.
Nominees need not be ANS members.
This award consists of an engraved plaque and a monetary award of $1,000.
The award was established by the Nuclear Installations Safety Division (NISD), formerly the Nuclear Reactor Safety Division, in 1988 to honor Dr. George C. Laurence who was one of the pioneers in the Canadian nuclear program and who showed remarkable insight by early introducing the risk-informed concept and establishing it, in his capacity of President of the Atomic Energy Control Board, as an integral part of the Canadian nuclear safety regulatory system. This award is supported by the general operating budget of NISD.
The NISD Honors and Awards Committee administers this award. That committee establishes the evaluation criteria, solicits the nominations, and determines the recipient. The award shall not be given on an annual basis, but when the NISD H&A Committee deems such recognition to be appropriate. The national Honors and Awards Committee is available for consultation and review as appropriate.
Nominations must include the completed nomination form accompanied by the following supporting documents:
Nomination forms and supporting documents (in Word or Adobe Acrobat) should be emailed to honors@ans.org.
View Award
