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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
August 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
INL makes a case for eliminating ALARA and setting higher dose limits
A report just released by Idaho National Laboratory reviews decades of radiation protection standards and research on the health effects of low-dose radiation and recommends that the current U.S. annual occupational dose limit of 5,000 mrem be maintained without applying ALARA—the “as low as reasonably achievable” regulatory concept first introduced in 1971—below that threshold.
Noting that epidemiological studies “have consistently failed to demonstrate statistically significant health effects at doses below 10,000 mrem delivered at low dose rates,” the report also recommends “future consideration of increasing this limit to 10,000 mrem/year with appropriate cumulative-dose constraints.”
ICRS 14/RPSD 2022 speaker
Dr. Loughlin has been working in nuclear fusion since the mid-1980s. He obtained his Ph.D. from Birmingham University in the UK, developing neutron diagnostics for fusion reactors. He was involved in the first deuterium and tritium experiments in JET and TFTR in the 1990’s, measuring new world records for fusion power on three occasions. From 2007 to 2022, he was the Coordinator of Nuclear Analysis and Shielding at ITER and led the effort in the design of nuclear shielding for the ITER facility. He is now a Distinguished R&D Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2020.
Last modified July 29, 2022, 9:32am PDT
