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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 NCSD
Wednesday, June 10, 2020|12:00–2:10PM EDT|10
Session Chair:
Katherin L. Goluoglu
Alternate Chair:
Brandon Little
Session Organizer:
Joseph A. Christensen
Staff Producer:
Paul LaTour (American Nuclear Society)
This session addresses the growing field of medical isotope production and the implications for criticality safety. The field involves a number of emerging techniques and technologies which produce criticality safety challenges, INCLUDING handling high-assay low-enriched uranium in known or new chemical compositions. These challenges create opportunities for advancements in criticality safety techniques and demonstrate a continuing need for nuclear data. This panel is designed to highlight challenges, advancements, and current or future needs in the field of criticality safety for medical isotope production facilities.
Jeff Chapman
National Nuclear Security Administration
Joseph Christensen
SHINE Medical Technologies
Katherin Goluoglu
Isotek Systems, LLC
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