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Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Dec 2025
Jul 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
January 2026
Nuclear Technology
December 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
What’s the most difficult question you’ve been asked as a maintenance instructor?
Blye Widmar
"Where are the prints?!"
This was the final question in an onslaught of verbal feedback, comments, and critiques I received from my students back in 2019. I had two years of instructor experience and was teaching a class that had been meticulously rehearsed in preparation for an accreditation visit. I knew the training material well and transferred that knowledge effectively enough for all the students to pass the class. As we wrapped up, I asked the students how they felt about my first big system-level class, and they did not hold back.
“Why was the exam from memory when we don’t work from memory in the plant?” “Why didn’t we refer to the vendor documents?” “Why didn’t we practice more on the mock-up?” And so on.
Panel and Technical Session|Criticality Safety
Saturday, April 15, 2023|1:35–2:55PM EDT|Student Union 362C
Session Chair:
Katy Worrell (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville)
Alternate Chair:
Matthew McMillan (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville)
Session Organizer:
Lance M. Drouet (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville)
This session is sponsored by the ANS Nuclear Criticality Safety Division.
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Design of a Subcritical Test Assembly at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
1:35–1:55PM EDT
Edward G. Fejedelem (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Carson Sain (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Chilson Whittum (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Katy Worrell (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Alexander Lang (ORNL), Mathieu Dupont (ORNL), Douglas G. Bowen (ORNL)
Paper
Consistency-Based Benchmark Rejection Used for Nuclear Criticality Safety Analysis Applications
1:55–2:15PM EDT
Jeongwon Seo (Purdue), Hany S. Abdel-Khalik (Purdue)
Heavy Water Experiment with Inherently Safe Subcritical Assembly (ISSA)
2:15–2:35PM EDT
Alessandra H. Totaro Villar (Univ. California, Berkeley), Speero M. Tannous (Univ. California, Berkeley), Émile Gateau (Univ. California, Berkeley)
Burnable Poison Loading Optimization
2:35–2:55PM EDT
Vitaliy Mykhnyak (Penn State), Devin J. Ortiz (Penn State), Andrew Broesder (Penn State)
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