ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Center for Used Fuel Research: Building confidence in storage and transport
Used nuclear fuel storage and transportation have reached a critical juncture.
Dozens of utilities need reliable data on how used nuclear fuel performs in dry storage casks and canisters to extend regulatory licenses at sites across the United States. Likewise, the Department of Energy expects to take ownership of the used nuclear fuel—termed “spent nuclear fuel” in the laws and regulations governing its stewardship—and transfer it to one or more federal staging facilities for management and disposition.
Meanwhile, dozens of reactor companies are testing prototypes of advanced reactors and advanced reactor fuels. Eventually, regulators and industry must also verify the safety and security of storage methods for these advanced fuel types.
To help address these challenges, the DOE established the Center for Used Fuel Research (CUFR) in January 2026 for work related to the long-term storage and transport of used nuclear fuel.
Educational Session|Panel|Sponsored by Engineering and Equipment Reliability|Cosponsored by Executive/Leadership, Maintenance and Work Management
Tuesday, August 11, 2020|4:00–5:30PM EDT
Session Organizers:
Jon Anderson (ACA)
Ray Herb (Southern Nuclear Company)
Pareez E. Golub (Sargent & Lundy)
Knowledge Manager:
Sarah Lynn (Luminant)
Nuclear Plants and Utilities are operating on razor thin margins, and the pressure to both increase equipment reliability and reduce cost within ever shrinking operating budgets has given rise to Monitoring and Diagnostics that replace time based PMs. Collectively, there is a need to significantly improved the quality and cost-effectiveness of Monitoring and Diagnostics Centers that are tightly integrated into Work Management. This session will include presentations from utilities that are spinning up M&D centers, fine tuning existing M&D centers, integrating into Fleet M&D centers. There will also be discussion on lessons learned, and integration with Work Management, Operations and Engineering all in an attempt to increase equipment reliability at the most economical cost. Using automation to monitor critical equipment, produce automated equipment health reports, predict needed repairs and reduce the time based maintenance. Come hear about how to justify the start-up costs, establish monitoring scopes using the EPRI Cost benefit tools and COLM strategies.
Brando Diegel
Xcel
Robert Austin
EPRI
Brandon Jenewein
South Texas Project
Jeff Edwards
Triencon Services Inc.
Gopal Gopalkrishnan
OSI Soft
Tim Johnson
Endevor LLC.
Richard Jackson
CYNDRUS LLC
Molly Strasser
Xcel Energy
To access the session recording, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
Register NowLog In
To access session resources, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
Session Notes