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2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
12th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies (NPIC&HMIT 2021)
Technical Session
Tuesday, June 15, 2021|4:30–6:15PM EDT
Session Chair:
Ahmad Al Rashdan (INL)
Alternate Chair:
Jamie B. Coble (University of Tennessee-Knoxville)
Session Organizer:
Staff Producer:
Mary Tong (ANS)
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An Exact Method for Maintenance Schedule Optimization in Nuclear Power Plants
Jamie Coble (Univ. of Tennessee Knoxville), Ethan Deakins (Univ. of Tennessee Knoxville), Tim Gallacher (Univ. of Tennessee Knoxville), Anahita Khojandi (Univ. of Tennessee Knoxville), James Ostrowski (Univ. of Tennessee Knoxville), Diego Mandelli (INL)
Paper
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Dynamic Scheduler for Nuclear Power Plant Outages
Ozan Sert (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.), Rahil Dungrani (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.), Mitali Shah (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.), Subhash C. Sarin (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.)
Impact of Schedule Risk Indices and Visualizations for Re-allocating Resources for Emergent Work
Anirudh More (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.), Nathan Lau (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.), Shilo Anders (Vanderbilt Univ.)
Advantages of Using Computer-Based Procedures During Outages
Javier Barroso (Tecnatom), Javier Gil (Tecnatom), Mateo Ramos (Tecnatom)
Maintenance Needs and Power Losses Identification Through Heat Rate Monitoring Systems
Javier González (Tecnatom), Mariano Martín (Tecnatom), Javier Barroso (Tecnatom)
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