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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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October 2025
Latest News
Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
Technical Session|Panel|Panels
Tuesday, October 8, 2024|3:15–5:00PM MDT|Room 3
Session Chair:
Mackenzie L. Gorham (Idaho State)
Session Organizer:
In response to a growing need for Engineering Technicians in the energy sector, the College of Technology at Idaho State University has established the Energy Systems Technology and Education Center (ESTEC) on the Idaho State University campus in Pocatello, Idaho. ESTEC offers one Basic Technical Certificate, two Intermediate Technical Certificate, and six Associate of Applied Science degrees. ESTEC provides a unique approach to educating students by providing the specific knowledge and skills needed in energy production. The skills requirements have been developed in partnership with energy utilities and vendors to assure that program graduates enter the workforce with the precise skills required by the energy industry in a broad spectrum of electrical, nuclear, coal, gas, renewable technologies. and allied manufacturing sectors. Students learn through traditional classroom experience as well as through extensive laboratory exercises. The panel will consist of current staff, students, graduates, and employers, and the discussion will facilitate commentary on operations and maintenance workforce needs and development, and how partnering closely with technical colleges and universities can provide a needed hiring pipeline of qualified and competent entry-level technicians.
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