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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Extracting efficiency
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
May is a month when we pause—briefly—to recognize something that too often goes unsaid: the extraordinary performance of the existing U.S. nuclear fleet. Capacity factors remain above 90 percent (with a median of 91.29 for the three-year period 2023–2025—see Nuclear News, May 2026, p. 24), an impressive figure delivered at a scale unmatched anywhere else on the globe. That level of sustained output is not an accident of design; it is a daily achievement. It reflects the discipline, professionalism, and pride of the men and women who operate and maintain these facilities, often without fanfare.
In this issue, you will also read about the important work researchers at our national laboratories are doing to extract even greater efficiency from the plants we already have. That effort deserves more attention, because it points to a fundamental truth: the fastest, most reliable way to expand nuclear generation in the United States is not solely through new builds—it is by maximizing the assets already on the grid.
8:00AM–12:00PM EDT
Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub Room 603
Session Organizers: Carolina Dutra, David Reger
9:00AM–12:00PM EDT
Pattee and Paterno Library Room W003
Session Organizer: Aamer Bashir
1:00–4:00PM EDT
Engineering Services Building Room 122
Session Organizer: Chris Balbier
Session Organizer: Luiz Aldeia Machado
1:30–4:00PM EDT
Engineering Design and Innovation Building Room 326
Session Organizers: Carolina Dutra, Luiz Aldeia Machado
3:00–4:30PM EDT
Thomas Building Room 104
Session Organizers: Zach Van Horn, Jessi Altiero
