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2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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The spark of the Super: Teller–Ulam and the birth of the H-bomb—rivalry, credit, and legacy at 75 years
In early 1951, Los Alamos scientists Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam devised a breakthrough that would lead to the hydrogen bomb [1]. Their design gave the United States an initial advantage in the Cold War, though comparable progress was soon achieved independently in the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom.
International High Level Radioactive Waste Management (IHLRWM 2025) &
Advances in Nuclear Nonproliferation Technology and Policy Conference (ANTPC 2025)
John Kotek is Senior Vice President for Policy and Public Affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute, and is President of Nuclear Matters, a grassroots coalition of nuclear energy advocates. From 2015-2017, John served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy in the US Department of Energy. John was Staff Director to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which in 2012 recommended a new strategy for the U.S. nuclear waste management program. John has also served as a Congressional fellow, an R&D program manager at Argonne National Laboratory-West in Idaho, and as a public affairs consultant. He holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Maryland.
Last modified October 28, 2025, 3:23pm EDT
