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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Getting back to yes: A local perspective on decommissioning, restart, and responsibility
For 45 years, Duane Arnold Energy Center operated in Linn County, Ia., near the town of Palo and just northwest of Cedar Rapids. The facility, owned by NextEra Energy, was the only nuclear power plant in the state.
In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.
Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by HFICD
Wednesday, June 19, 2024|10:00–11:45AM PDT|Jasmine H
Session Chair:
Syed Bahauddin Alam
Session Organizer:
Vivek Agarwal
In alignment with the Department of Energy (DOE)'s mission to bolster America's security by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges, this panel will delve into the potential of leveraging a Digital Twin (DT) approach powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), in Nuclear Plant Asset Management & Modernization. Specifically, this panel will shed light on both the technological promise and economic implications of prognostic and health management from Digital Twin approaches in tie with advanced cybersecurity solutions, with an emphasis on: (1) Predictive Maintenance & Degradation Monitoring: Harnessing Digital Twins to foresee maintenance needs and track asset degradation in real-time. (2) Data Integration & Interpretability: Consolidating heterogeneous data sources into coherent Digital Twin models while ensuring model transparency. (3) Economic Optimization: Evaluating the return on investment and risk reduction potential of Digital Twin adoption. (4) Cybersecurity Considerations: Ensuring regulatory alignment of Digital Twin capabilities in the realm of cybersecurity for nuclear infrastructures. (5) Strategic Collaboration: Working closely with the DOE to maximize Digital Twins' and cybersecurity impact. Overall, this panel aims to bridge innovation and implementation, offering a comprehensive perspective on how Digital Twins, integrated with cybersecurity and AI, can transform nuclear plant asset management. By convening experts across industry, government, and academia, we hope to chart a path toward increased efficiency, cyber-secured, and cost-effectiveness in maintaining these vital clean energy assets over their lifetime.
Syed ALAM
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Sajedul Talukder
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
Lefteri Tsoukalas
Purdue Univ.
Vaibhav Yadav
Senior Research Scientist, Idaho National Laboratory
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