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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.
Thursday, May 12, 2022|12:30–4:30PM EDT
Meet in the Hotel Lobby
Transportation will leave from and return at 4:30 to the Cleveland Westin.
NETS attendees have the option to tour some of the major test facilities at the NASA Glenn Research Center
The Zero Gravity Research Facility is NASA’s premier facility for ground based microgravity research, and the largest facility of its kind in the world. It provides researchers with a near weightless environment for a duration of 5.18 seconds.
ELECTRIC PROPULSION AND POWER LABORATORY
The Electric Propulsion and Power Laboratory (EPPL) supports research and development of spacecraft power and electric propulsion systems. The staff of EPPL have been supporting electric propulsion and power system testing for over 40 years
SIMULATED LUNAR OPERATIONS LABORATORY (SLOPE)
The SLOPE Lab is a unique indoor laboratory designed to mimic lunar and planetary surface operations. Research here helps NASA develop the tools and technologies needed to allow rovers to traverse long distances and explore the surfaces of the Moon and Mars.
