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
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
RIC panel discusses pathway to fusion commercialization
Fusion leaders at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual Regulatory Information Conference discussed the path forward for regulating the burgeoning fusion industry. The speakers discussed government and private industry initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom, with a focus on efforts shaping the near-term deployment of commercial fusion machines.
A recurring theme was the need to explain the difference between fission and fusion. Representatives from the Department of Energy and Type One Energy highlighted this as an important distinction for regulators, as it will allow fusion to undergo its own independent maturation process for developing standards and regulations in the same way that fission has. Lea Perlas, Fusion Program director at the Virginia Department of Health, said that confusion between fission and fusion has been a common cause for misplaced concerns among community members surrounding Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ proposed fusion plant site near Richmond, Va.
Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2022) Plenary SPeaker
Program Manager
Strategic Capabilities Office
Dr. Jeff Waksman is a Program Manager at the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) where he leads Project Pele (mobile nuclear reactor) and Project TRISO (encapsulated nuclear fuel). As part of this role, in addition to direct program management, he aids coordination on nuclear energy programs and related policy development across the interagency.
Before arriving at SCO, he worked for NASA as a Senior Policy Adviser, where he advised on policy and technical issues while also serving as the first Executive Secretary/Designed Federal Officer of the National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group.
Prior to his federal service, he worked in the private sector for IBM, where he was a staff scientist working on advanced semiconductor technology such as reactive ion etching, III-V materials, quantum computing, and heterogeneous integration. He also performed physics research prior to this at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and at the Princeton Plasma Physical Laboratory.
Dr. Jeff Waksman holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering and a Master of Science in Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Physics from Columbia University.
Last modified April 25, 2022, 3:05pm EDT
