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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.
Technical Session
Wednesday, May 11, 2022|1:30–3:30PM EDT|Vanda
Session Chair:
Katey E. Lenox (INL)
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Harold Gerrish (NASA)
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Thermal Shock Testing of Surrogate Fuel Materials for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Neal D. Gaffin (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Cean Ang (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Timothy Ironman (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Steven J. Zinkle (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville)
Paper
Updates on European Americium Uranium Oxide Fuel and Clad Compatibility Tests for European Radioisotope Power Systems
E.J. Watkinson (Univ. Leicester), B. Cremer (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), P. Lajarge (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), S. Gardeur (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), J.-F. Vigier (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), C. Berkmann (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), M. Ernstberger (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), T. Wiss (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), D. Freis (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), T. Crawford (Univ. Leicester), S. Pfirrmann (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), R. Ambrosi (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), R. Konings (European Commission Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe), K. Stephenson (European Space Agency)
In-Pile High-Temperature Testing Vehicle for Nuclear Thermal Rocket Instrumentation, Materials, and Fuel Testing
Brandon Wilson (ORNL), Tyler Steiner (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Emily Hutchins (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Lawrence Heilbronn (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), N. Dianne Bull Ezell (ORNL)
Hot Hydrogen Testing of W-Coated UN Kernels for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Arne Croell (Univ. Alabama, Huntsville), Jamelle Williams (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center), Martin Volz (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center), Brian Taylor (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center), Jhonathan Rosales (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center)
Design and Construction of a Low-Pressure Wind Tunnel for the Experimental Validation of a Forced-Convection Heat Exchanger for Mars Surface Reactor Waste Heat Rejection
Nathan Colgan (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), Gregory Nellis (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), Mark Anderson (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison)
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