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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.
Plenary Session
Tuesday, June 14, 2022|8:00–9:45AM PDT|Pacific D
Session Organizers:
Andrew Klein (Emeritus Professor and Editor, Nuclear Technology, Past ANS President)
Young Members Group
In 2017, ANS announced the Nuclear Grand Challenges. These nine challenges, put forth by the members and Technical Divisions of ANS, identify cross-cutting technical issues to be resolved by 2030 to help address the economic, sociological, or political concerns facing nuclear energy. Five years later, where are we? In addition to highlighting recent successes, we challenge our panelists and audience alike to consider actions needed to move forward. We will explore the role each of us has to play, from students to technical and industry leaders, in making real progress on the grand challenges of nuclear energy.
Steve NesbitANS President 2021-2022LMNT Consulting
Moderator
Catherine PratPrincipal EngineerWestinghouse Electric Company
Speakers
Amir A. Bahadori, PhD, DABHPAssociate Professor and Steve Hsu Keystone Research Faculty ScholarKansas State UniversityFaculty ScientistKSU Johnson Cancer Research Center
Paul T. DickmanSenior Policy FellowArgonne National Laboratory
Alyssa HayesNuclear Engineering Ph.D. CandidateUniversity of Tennessee
Dr. Kathryn (Katy) HuffSenior Advisor to the SecretaryU.S. Department of Energy
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