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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Aug 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
More of everything
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
For the past few years, I have been conducting a thoroughly unscientific, one-question poll of nuclear utility and supplier CEOs and senior executives: “What keeps you up at night?” The number one answer is—and has been from the beginning—“Workforce.”
The ongoing shortage of skilled labor—welders, pipefitters, electricians, and the like—almost always gets top billing in nuclear workforce discussions. In April 2025, the U.S. had an eye-popping 600,000 unfilled positions in the construction and manufacturing sectors. This consistent supply gap feeds a continuing talent war that has pushed craft wages up 20 percent since the end of the COVID pandemic, straining project budgets and profit margins alike.
Perhaps the most underappreciated gap in the nuclear workforce is professional and business services. It is the second-largest employment category in the nuclear industry, according to the Department of Energy’s 2024 U.S. Energy & Employment Report.
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2023)
Scott Hunnewell oversees the New Nuclear Program for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Areas of responsibility include licensing activities for Construction Permit Application and Environmental Report for the Clinch River Site; future site selection and technological evaluations of emerging technologies, in Generation IV Nuclear Plants. Since joining TVA in 2009, he has held positions in site engineering including Systems and Design Engineering as well as Engineering Director at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. Hunnewell has Operations and Work Management experience, was the Plant Manager at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant and Vice President of Nuclear Engineering prior to his current role. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine. He is based in the Chattanooga, Tennessee office.
Last modified April 5, 2023, 3:14pm EDT
