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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Latest News
GAO: Clarification of HLW definition could save DOE billions
A clearer definition of what constitutes high-level radioactive waste could save the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management “tens of billions of dollars” in waste management costs and accelerate its cleanup schedule by decades, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
DOE-EM’s efforts to manage waste resulting from legacy spent nuclear fuel reprocessing have been hindered for decades by the ambiguity of the statutory definition of HLW as laid out in the Atomic Energy Act and Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the report states. While admitting that the DOE has taken steps to overcome this ambiguity, the GAO says that the department has not fully evaluated all available opportunities to treat and dispose of waste more economically as either transuranic or low-level radioactive waste.
Technical Session|Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Thursday, May 9, 2024|3:15–4:55PM MDT|Coronado/DeVargas
Session Chair:
Doug Burns
Alternate Chair:
Session Organizer:
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Anti-Criticality Methods for Nuclear Thermal Rocket Launches and their Associated Assembly/Disassembly in Space
3:15–3:40PM MDT
Brandon Wilson (ORNL), Julia Cline (NASA Langley Research Center), Kaylin Borders (Cornell University), Pavel Shilenko (United States Military Academy), N. Dianne Bull Ezell (ORNL)
Paper
Range Safety Considerations for Reactor-Based Space Nuclear Systems
3:40–4:05PM MDT
A.P. Herbert (Lockheed Martin Space), B. Fisher (Lockheed Martin Space), M. Granger (Lockheed Martin Space), M. Blood (Lockheed Martin Space)
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Ground Testing with the High Pressure Real-Time (HPRT) Exhaust Processing System
4:05–4:30PM MDT
Lindsey Holmes (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Marcus Neely (Jacobs Space Exploration), Jim Rector (New Horizon 5), Ricky Sasmal (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.)
Hazards Analysis Frameworks for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Ground Testing
4:30–4:55PM MDT
Reed Herner (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Alexander Pingel (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Jaycie Hall (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Jim Werner (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.), Lindsey Holmes (Analytical Mechanics Assoc.)
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