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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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
Technical Session
Monday, May 8, 2023|3:45–5:25PM MDT|Twin Falls Room
Session Chair:
Michael G. Houts
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Kurt Polzin
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Continuing Experimental Efforts for Simulating a Centrifugal Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engine
3:45–4:05PM MDT
Timothy Blackman (Univ. Alabama, Hunstville), Mitchell Schroll (Univ. Alabama, Hunstville), Robert Frederick (Univ. Alabama, Hunstville), L. Dale Thomas (Univ. Alabama, Hunstville)
Paper
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion for High Delta-V Science Missions
4:05–4:25PM MDT
Ethan Chaleff (Ultra Safe Nuclear), Craig Foulds (Ultra Safe Nuclear), Doug Greisen (Ultra Safe Nuclear), Michael Eades (Ultra Safe Nuclear)
Capabilities of Single Launch NTP and Chemical Spacecrafts for Cis-Lunar Tug Missions
4:25–4:45PM MDT
Christopher Harnack (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Emanuel Grella (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Sean Greenhalge (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Matthew Duchek (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.)
Chemical Vapor Deposition of ZrC Coatings for Space Nuclear Propulsion
4:45–5:05PM MDT
Eddie Lopez-Honorato (ORNL), Tyler Gerczak (ORNL), Ryan Heldt (ORNL), Peter Doyle (ORNL), Will Cureton (ORNL), Grant Helmreich (ORNL), John Hunn (ORNL)
Overview of the Reliability-Driven Design and Test Methodology Applied to Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems
5:05–5:25PM MDT
Samantha B. Rawlins (Univ. Alabama, Huntsville), L. Dale Thomas (Univ. Alabama, Huntsville)
DRACO On-Orbit Nuclear Thermal Rocket Experiment Preliminary Plans
5:25–5:45PM MDT
Tabitha Dodson (Defense Advanced Projects Agency), David Poston (LANL), Anthony Calomino (NASA Glenn Research Center), Jason Turpin (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center)
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