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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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Latest News
IAEA again raises global nuclear power projections
Noting recent momentum behind nuclear power, the International Atomic Energy Agency has revised up its projections for the expansion of nuclear power, estimating that global nuclear operational capacity will more than double by 2050—reaching 2.6 times the 2024 level—with small modular reactors expected to play a pivotal role in this high-case scenario.
IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the new projections, contained in the annual report Energy, Electricity, and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050 at the 69th IAEA General Conference in Vienna.
In the report’s high-case scenario, nuclear electrical generating capacity is projected to increase to from 377 GW at the end of 2024 to 992 GW by 2050. In a low-case scenario, capacity rises 50 percent, compared with 2024, to 561 GW. SMRs are projected to account for 24 percent of the new capacity added in the high case and for 5 percent in the low case.
Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2022) Plenary SPeaker
Professor
The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
John Foster has worked in the area of advanced space propulsion for 30 years dating back to his undergraduate days as a summer intern at NASA Glenn on gridded ion thrusters. His research includes in-space propulsion technologies ranging from gridded ion thrusters to MPD thrusters as well as gas and liquid core nuclear thermal rockets. He worked on advanced propulsion for nearly 10 years as an employee at NASA before moving to the University of Michigan. At NASA GRC, he served as the ion thruster (HIPEP) principle investigator for the JIMO NEP mission. He also worked on an interstellar precursor high power ion engine as NASA GRC as well. He continued this research at Michigan and extended research effort into space nuclear power and propulsion systems as well. In parallel he has developed as a space nuclear power and propulsion design course. He has also carried out research relevant to space in situ resource utilization including water recycling/purification and plastics waste recycling using plasmas.
Last modified April 25, 2022, 9:31am EDT
