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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.
10:00–11:40AM CDT
Salon EF (Marriott)|Radioisotope Power Systems
Session Chair: Carl E. Sandifer
SPOC B (Space & Rocket Center)|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Session Chair: Mitchell Rodriguez
Panel|Atlantis/Discovery/Columbia (Marriott)|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Session Chair: Michael G. Houts
1:00–2:40PM CDT
Atlantis/Discovery/Columbia (Marriott)|Fission Surface Power
Session Chair: Mark Lefebvre|Alternate Chair: Robert Okojie
Session Chair: David Frate
Session Chair: Jason Cassibry
SPOC A (Space & Rocket Center)|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Session Chair: Will Grier
3:15–4:55PM CDT
Session Chair: Tyler Steiner
Session Chair: Allen Guzik
Session Chair: David Manzella
Session Chair: Jarvis Caffrey
Session Chair: Gregory Fedor|Alternate Chair: Mark Lefebvre
Session Chair: Lauren Clayman
Session Chair: Doug Burns
Panel|Atlantis/Discovery/Columbia (Marriott)|Radioisotope Power Systems
Session Chair: June Zakrajsek
Session Chair: Colleen Van Lear
Session Chair: Joel Krakower
Panel|SPOC A (Space & Rocket Center)|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Session Chair: Julia E. Cline
Session Chair: Andrea Marchica
Atlantis/Discovery/Columbia (Marriott)|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Session Chair: Kurt Polzin
Session Chair: Tim Duquette
Session Chairs: Chris Whiting, Emily Hsu
Session Chair: Ron S. Faibish
Session Chair: Jason Reynolds|Alternate Chair: Justin Milner
Salon EF (Marriott)|Fission Surface Power
Session Chair: Mark Lefebvre|Alternate Chair: Greg Fedor
Session Chair: George Williams
Session Chair: James Maddox
Session Chair: Michael Schoenfeld|Alternate Chair: Harold Gerrish
Session Chair: Tyler Steiner|Alternate Chair: Robert Okojie
Salon EF (Marriott)|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Session Chair: Elora Kurz
