ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
The transformation of the NRC: 50 years of commissioners
The dust is beginning to settle following the whirlwind of changes at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the past year, and 2025 ultimately may be viewed as a transformative year, as well as the year the NRC celebrated its golden anniversary. The 12 months of that milestone year brought more change to the agency in its composition, its mandate, and its relationship to the executive branch than any comparable period in the preceding four decades.
Now at 51 years and counting, the NRC is working with a full commission and issuing new rulemakings to both regulate and support the next round of nuclear deployments. With the turbulence of 2025 still fresh in our minds, Nuclear News decided it was a good time to revisit the professional backgrounds of all 42 NRC commissioners who have served over the agency’s 50-year history to see how the composition of the commission has evolved over time.
Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS 2026)
APL Research Scientist, Space Science
Johns Hopkins APL
Ralph L. McNutt Jr., Ph.D. is an APL Research Scientist for Space Science at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and one of the nation’s leading voices in planetary science, deep-space exploration, and advanced mission architecture.
A physicist by training, Dr. McNutt has played pivotal leadership roles across some of NASA’s most ambitious missions. He serves as Project Scientist and Co-Investigator for NASA’s MESSENGER mission to Mercury, Principal Investigator for the PEPSSI instrument aboard New Horizons to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, Co-Investigator for Solar Probe Plus (now Parker Solar Probe), and has contributed to both the Voyager and Cassini missions. He has also been a leading advocate for the development of an Interstellar Probe, advancing concepts for humanity’s first mission beyond the heliosphere.
Throughout his career, Dr. McNutt has supported numerous NASA science and technology definition teams, strategic review panels, and mission planning efforts, helping shape the future of solar system exploration and the role of advanced nuclear power and propulsion in enabling it.
He has authored more than 150 scientific and engineering papers, over 250 technical abstracts, and delivered more than 150 professional and public presentations. He earned his B.S. in Physics from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined APL in 1992 after previous roles with MIT, Sandia National Laboratories, and Visidyne, Inc.
Known for his visionary thinking and ability to connect technical innovation with humanity’s long-term future in space, Dr. McNutt continues to shape how we think about exploration beyond the planets—and beyond the Sun itself.
