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 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
August 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
In transition: Commercializing fusion power
Commercial fusion power is closer than ever. There are now around 30 U.S. fusion companies, several of which claim to be on track to connect to the grid as early as the 2030s.
Tokamak and laser inertial confinement approaches benefit from decades of research at facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ITER, with alternative concepts including stellarator, magnetic mirror, and Z-pinch confinement also making notable progress as private and government funding for fusion increases.
2026 ANS Annual Conference
Director
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, became the seventh Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on July 1, 2018 and Princeton professor of astrophysical sciences on September 1, 2018. Prior to that he was president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom (2016-2018). Cowley was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy from 2008-2016. He earned his doctorate at Princeton University in astrophysical sciences in 1985 and was a staff scientist at PPPL from 1987 to 1993. From 2011-2016 he was a member of the UK Prime Minister's Council on Science and Technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and was knighted by the Queen of England in June 2018 for his role in fusion science.
