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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Getting back to yes: A local perspective on decommissioning, restart, and responsibility
For 45 years, Duane Arnold Energy Center operated in Linn County, Ia., near the town of Palo and just northwest of Cedar Rapids. The facility, owned by NextEra Energy, was the only nuclear power plant in the state.
In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.
Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.
General Chair:
Dan Churchman (Southern Nuclear)
Technical Program Chair:
Vince Gilbert (Model Performance, LLC)
Assistant Technical Program Chair:
Jon Anderson (ACA Proactive)
Business/Economic Performance Track Leaders:
Tim Schlimpert (MCR Performance Solutions)
Maria Hernandez (Duke Energy)
Decommissioning Track Leader:
Jim Byrne (Byrne & Assoc., LLC)
Executive/Leadership Track Leaders:
Bob Coward (MPR)
Ken Thomas
Engineering and Equipment Reliability Track Leaders:
Ray Herb (Southern Nuclear)
Pareez Golub (Sargent and Lundy)
Ted Quinn (Technology Resources)
Nuclear Supply Chain Track Leaders:
William Fry (Duke Energy)
Jim Ripple (Southern Nuclear)
Maintenance and Work Management Track Leaders:
Bryant Hearne (INPO)
Pete Arthur (INPO)
John McDonald (ACA Proactive)
Operations/Ops Training Track Leaders:
Bruce Hennigan (Exelon Corporation)
Dan Randolph (Exelon Corporation)
Jason Lanier (Duke Energy)
Performance Improvement Track Leaders:
Fred Lake (WD Associates)
Kevin Rackley (TVA)
Regulatory Relations Track Leaders:
Garry Young (Entergy)
Luis Betancourt (US NRC)
Risk Management Track Leaders:
Gene Kelly (Exelon Corporation)
Tim Crook (MCR Performance Solutions)
Technology and Innovation Track Leaders:
John Downing (John Downing Consulting LLC)
Adam Dow (Southern California Edison)
Lead Knowledge Manager:
Sarah Lynn (Luminant)
Knowledge Managers:
Saieed Ahmed (Exelon Corporation)
Lee Causey (Duke Energy)
Robby Christian (INL)
Maxwell Daniels (IAEA)
Shahrukh Khan (Georgetown University)
Matthew Parsons (PSU)
Matthew Mairinger (Ontario Power Generation)
Sudipta Saha (U of S. Carolina)
Greg Swain (Duke Energy)
Amber Von Ruden (Exelon Corporation)
