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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.
Friday, May 10, 2024|7:00AM–1:00PM MDT
Pickup at the La Fonda On the Plaza ( 100 E. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, NM 87501)
SOLD OUT
Cost: $45 (Transportation cost)
Hosted by the Manhattan National Historical Park team at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), this tour will give you the opportunity to travel "behind the fence" on Laboratory property. You’ll visit Pajarito Laboratory, now called Technical Area 18, and discover everything from Los Alamos’ incredible prehistory to the beginning of the modern Laboratory – and, of course, the Manhattan Project. We’ll view the Pond Cabin, where Emilio Segrè’s Radioactivity Group made the pivotal discovery that the "Thin Man" plutonium bomb design would not work. You'll also see a battleship bunker used to protect equipment and staff during implosion design explosives testing and visit the site of Louis Slotin’s criticality accident.
Requirements
Required documents