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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.
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by NCSD
Monday, November 16, 2020|3:40–5:50PM EST
Session Chair:
David K. Hayes
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
David G. Erickson
Staff Producer:
Mich Leana (American Nuclear Society)
The Criticality Safety Support Group (CSSG) was formed in response to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 97-2, Continuation of Criticality Safety at Defense Nuclear Facilities in the Department of Energy (DOE) Complex. The CSSG functions as the technical support group to the DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) Manager, providing operational and technical expertise pertinent to the criticality safety needs of DOE missions. This expertise is relevant to integral experiments, nuclear data, analytical methods, training, and organizational structures supporting the development and execution of the NCSP. Additionally, the scope of CSSG activities also includes reviewing: • Activities or conditions that have the potential for serious degradation of nuclear criticality safety at DOE facilities • New nuclear facility designs where criticality is a credible hazard • New or revised DOE orders, standards and guides related to criticality safety • Contractor nuclear criticality safety programs at DOE facilities in support of DOE line management While most CSSG Taskings and Responses are openly available, they are not often discussed in an open forum. This session will include an open discussion of recent CSSG activities to help the nuclear criticality safety community better understand the work and current issues around the DOE Complex.
David Erickson
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
Michaele Raap
ORNL
David Heinrichs
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Jerry Hicks
Kevin Kimball
Thomas McLaughlin
LANL
James Morman
Argonne National Laboratory
Edward Trumble
Amentum Technical Services
Robert Wilson
U.S. Department of Energy
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