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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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Latest News
NEA report calls for more accurate data on SNF heat decay
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has issued a report calling for more-detailed information on tracking the decay heat of spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors. According to the NEA, the report highlights the increasing importance of accurate decay heat estimations due to evolving fuel characteristics, including higher initial fuel enrichment, increased burn-up rates, and extended reactor cycle lengths.
The report, Summary of the NEA Assessment on Spent Nuclear Fuel Decay Heat for Light Water Reactors, summarizes the findings of a subgroup of the NEA’s Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS), which ran from January 2022 to January 2024.
Radiation Protection and Shielding Division 2024 (RPSD 2024)
Ms. RaJah Mena is currently employed by Mission Support and Test Services, the Management and Operations contractor for the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada Test Site). She manages the Consequence Management (CM) program at the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Nellis Air Force Base. The major focus of the program is to staff and manage the CM assets on behalf of the Department of Energy, the lead agency in the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC), the organization providing federal support to a nuclear or radiological response. In addition to program management, she also serves on several technical deployment and home team positions for the CM and Aerial Measuring System response teams. During her 18 years with the contract, Ms. Mena has developed equipment tests, designed, and executed numerous drills and exercises, contributed to and co-authored national-level policy documents, and responded to several real-world events including the US response to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant incident in Japan (2011).
Ms. Mena holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Health Physics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Last modified July 24, 2024, 9:12am EDT
