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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 OPD
Tuesday, November 17, 2020|2:40–4:20PM EST
Session Chair:
Piyush Sabharwall
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
N. Dianne B. Ezell
Staff Producer:
Paul LaTour (American Nuclear Society)
This session will primarily focus on the research and development activities, in the area of gas cooled, molten salt cooled, lead cooled, sodium cooled, and rabbit development, at leading national laboratories and industries. Presentations and speakers will be: 1) Na Cartridge Loop Development (Mitch Farmer and Tim Stack); 2) GFR Cartridge Loop Development (Piyush Sabharwall and Chris Ellis); 3) Lead Cartridge Loop Development (Cetin Unal and Paolo Ferroni); 4) MS Cartridge Loop Development: (Joel McDuffee and Daniel Eichel); 5) Rabbit System Development: David Wootan
Mitch Farmer
ANL
Tim Stack
Framatome
INL
Chris Ellis
GA
Cetin Unal
LANL
Paolo Ferroni
*Westinghouse Electric Co.
Joel McDuffee
ORNL
Daniel Eichel
Terrapower
David Wootan
PNNL
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