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Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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!
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January 2026
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December 2025
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November 2025
Latest News
DNFSB spots possible bottleneck in Hanford’s waste vitrification
Workers change out spent 27,000-pound TSCR filter columns and place them on a nearby storage pad during a planned outage in 2023. (Photo: DOE)
While the Department of Energy recently celebrated the beginning of hot commissioning of the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), which has begun immobilizing the site’s radioactive tank waste in glass through vitrification, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has reported a possible bottleneck in waste processing. According to the DNFSB, unless current systems run efficiently, the issue could result in the interruption of operations at the WTP’s Low-Activity Waste Facility, where waste vitrification takes place.
During operations, the LAW Facility will process an average of 5,300 gallons of tank waste per day, according to Bechtel, the contractor leading design, construction, and commissioning of the WTP. That waste is piped to the facility after being treated by Hanford’s Tanks Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system, which filters undissolved solid material and removes cesium from liquid waste.
According to a November 7 activity report by the DNFSB, the TSCR system may not be able to produce waste feed fast enough to keep up with the LAW Facility’s vitrification rate.
General Chair:
Clarissa A. Yablinsky (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Program Chair:
Anne Campbell (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Assistant Program Chair:
Maria A. Okuniewski (Purdue University)
Past Chair:
Todd Allen (University of Michigan, USA)
Organizing Committees:
Assel Aitkaliyeva (University of Florida)
Thak Sang Byun (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
M. Grace Burke (Idaho National Laboratory)
Jesse Carter (Naval Nuclear Laboratory)
Adrian Couet (University of Wisconsin- Madison)
Flyura Djurabekova (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kevin Field (University of Michigan)
Sarah Finkeldi (University of California- Irvine)
Jian Gan (Idaho National Laboratory)
Andrew Hoffman (GE Research)
Jie Lian (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Dong Liu (University of Bristol, UK)
Stu Maloy (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Mitra Taheri (Johns Hopkins University)
Michael Tonks (University of Florida)
Gary Was (University of Michigan)
Janelle Wharry (Purdue University)
Yong Yang (University of Florida)
Steve Zinkle (University of Tennessee & Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
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