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
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management 2022 Speaker
Dr. Erika Holt is an expert in radioactive waste management and holds a PhD (2001) in Civil Engineering. Erika is currently the co-coordinator of the project “PREDIS: Pre-disposal management of radioactive waste” at VTT, with a focus on the stakeholder engagement issues. She has managed a portfolio of VTT’s jointly-funded (public) projects related to the Finnish and international nuclear sector (~250 VTT persons). She has been on the Finnish national governmental committee for the Nuclear Energy strategy (Vision2020, 2014) and served as an evaluator of European Commission research and development proposals.
Erika holds a Doctoral Degree from the University of Washington (Seattle, USA, 2001) in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with an emphasis on concrete material durability. Her VTT research areas are addressing utilization of sustainable materials and service life approaches to material performance. She has conducted R&D and technical support on radioactive waste repository issues for 18 years, for both Finland and international clients. Most recently, her expertise projects have focused on initial state performance of engineered barrier materials, construction, designs and safety for high level nuclear waste repositories, including being a project manager for Posiva Oy. She has earlier worked at Golder Associates. She has over 100 scientific articles and numerous public speaking engagements.
Contact information:
erika.holt@vtt.fi, +358 40 593 1986
https://www.vttresearch.com/nuclear
Last modified October 28, 2022, 6:26am MST
