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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 YMG
Thursday, November 19, 2020|10:00–11:45AM EST
Session Chair:
Harsh S. Desai
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Alyse S. Huffman
Staff Producer:
Eileen Cullen (American Nuclear Society)
The objective of this session is to discuss the need for public policy engagement on nuclear issues and highlight career development opportunities in policy, particularly through the ANS Congressional Fellowship experience. The panel members will discuss their experience working with policy makers and the benefits of fellowship experience to their current and future endeavors.
Harsh Desai
Zeno Power
Alyse Huffman
House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee
Patrick Snouffer
US Senate
John Starkey
ANS
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