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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 15–18, 2026
Phoenix, AZ|Arizona Grand Resort & Spa
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Five companies, five bases: The Army’s Janus Program takes shape
Between the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses and Nuclear Energy Launch Pad programs, August has already been a busy month for federal partnerships with the nuclear industry.
That trend continues: On Wednesday, the Department of the Army announced that it has selected five nuclear reactor developers—Antares Nuclear, BWXT Advanced Technologies, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, Radiant Industries, and Westinghouse Government Services—each paired with a different military installation, for its Janus Program.
This week, the nuclear community descended on Dallas, Texas, for the second annual Nuclear Energy Conference and Expo, the premier industry-focused nuclear conference cohosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute. Among the plenary panelists was Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy, and environment. Waksman has been closely involved in the development of the Janus Program, and the morning before the program’s new selections were unveiled, he provided insights on its ultimate goals at NECX 2026.
Technical Session|Architectures, Missions, and Use Cases
Thursday, April 30, 2026|8:00–9:20AM EDT|Room 306
Session Chair:
Luis Rodriguez
Alternate Chair:
Alexandru Stafie
David Le Falcher did not show to present his paper below. European Space Agency – European Autonomous Access to Space With its Operational Capability With Launches On-Boarding Nuclear Power Sources
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European Space Agency – European Autonomous Access to Space With its Operational Capability With Launches On-Boarding Nuclear Power Sources
8:00–8:20AM EDT
David Le Falcher (ESA), Gauthier Poullin (Airbusprotect), Ludovic Duvet (ESA), Pierre Coquay (ESA), Christophe Fongarland (ESA), Denis Rebuffat (ESA), Frederic Lattwein (Arianegroup), Cedric Lemarié (Arianegroup), Yannick Herlem (Arianegroup)
Paper
Development of Figures of Merit for Size, Weight, Power and Cost Comparison of Solar and Nuclear Space Power Systems
8:20–8:40AM EDT
C. A. Lenyk (Astrion), J.E. Winter (Air Force Research Lab), P.M. Carpenter (Astrion), N.A. Johansson (Astrion), T.J. Allen (Astrion), M.C. Tomb (Astrion), K. M. Church (Astrion), S. K. Fairchild (Astrion)
Coupling Mission Requirements With System-Level Analysis for Rapid Evaluation of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Architectures
8:40–9:00AM EDT
Sonal Mehta (Georgia Tech), Camden Eck (Georgia Tech), Robert Ajluni (Georgia Tech), Cole Ajluni (Georgia Tech), Sabrina Mayor (Georgia Tech), Bradford Robertson (Georgia Tech), Dimitri N. Mavris (Georgia Tech), Dan Kotlyar (Georgia Tech)
Presented by Vishnu P. Reddy (Georgia Tech)
Comparative Analysis of Space Nuclear Propulsion Systems for Cislunar Missions: Part II – Mission Design for Large Payload Delivery
9:00–9:20AM EDT
Saroj Kumar (University of Alabama in Huntsville), Alexander C. Bendoyro (University of Alabama in Huntsville), Dale Thomas (The University of Alabama in Huntsville- Propulsion Research Center)
