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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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Optimizing nuclear plant outages: Data analytics tools and methods for enhancing resilience and efficiency
Nuclear power plant refueling outages are among the most complex phases in a plant’s operational cycle.1 During these outages, tens of thousands of activities, including maintenance and surveillance, are conducted simultaneously within a short timeframe. Typically lasting three to four weeks, these operations involve large crews of contractors with diverse skill sets performing tasks ranging from testing and surveillance to maintenance. Outages may extend longer if major backfitting or modernization projects are planned. Consequently, plant outages are expensive, incurring significant operational costs, such as contractor labor and equipment, as well as the loss of generation while the plant is off line. This can easily cost a plant operator more than $1 million a day. Therefore, there is a constant need to mitigate the economic impact on plants by reducing the frequency, duration, and risks associated with these outages.2,3
Technical Session|FCWMD
Monday, October 6, 2025|3:15–4:55PM CDT|Brentwood/Franklin
Session Chair:
Patty McCumbee
Co-Chair:
Michael Boone
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The U.S. Accident Tolerant Fuels Program: Recent Accomplishments and Transition to Deployment
3:15–3:40PM CDT
D. Wachs (INL), N. Capps (ORNL), A. Colldeweih (INL), C. Jensen (INL), P. King (INL), D. Kamerman (INL), K. Linton (ORNL), N. Oldham (INL), F. Goldner (DOE Office of Nuclear Energy)
Paper
Westinghouse EnCore Accident Tolerant Fuel and High Energy Program Update
3:40–4:05PM CDT
Zeses Karoutas (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Robert Schillat (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Michael Boone (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Jorie Walters (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Ed Lahoda (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Katerina Frederick (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Nicholas Pocquette (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Roy Matway (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Ellen Feldsien (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Frank Boylan (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Radu Pomirleanu (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Antoine Claisse (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Kyle Johnson (Westinghouse Electric Co.)
GNF's Accident Tolerant Fuel Program
4:05–4:30PM CDT
David Barrientos (Global Nuclear Fuel), Ian Porter (Global Nuclear Fuel), Allan Jaworski (Global Nuclear Fuel), Dan Lutz (Global Nuclear Fuel), Russ Fawcett (Global Nuclear Fuel), Rich Augi (Global Nuclear Fuel)
PROtect: The E-ATF Solution by Framatome - Overview of Recent Achievements and Next Steps
4:30–4:55PM CDT
T. Garnier (Framatome), N. Vioujard (Framatome), M. Harkin (Framatome)
Unlocking Economic Nuclear Capacity: The Role of Advanced Fuel Technologies in Power Uprates
4:55–5:20PM CDT
K. Shirvan (MIT), A. Csontos (NEI)
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