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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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!
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May 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Bipartisan Fusion Energy Act pushes for regulatory clarity
Sen. Alex Padilla (D., Calif.) introduced the Fusion Energy Act (S. 4151) last month with a bipartisan group of cosponsors—John Cornyn (R., Texas), Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Todd Young (R., Ind.), and Patty Murray (D., Wash.). The legislation would codify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulatory authority over commercial fusion energy systems to streamline the creation of clear federal regulations that will support the development of commercial fusion power plants—and would require a report within one year on a study of risk- and performance-based, design-specific licensing frameworks for “mass-manufactured fusion machines.
“Congress must do everything in its power to ensure continued U.S. leadership in developing commercial fusion energy facilities,” said Padilla as he introduced the bill. “The Fusion Energy Act would provide regulatory certainty for investors as the NRC develops and streamlines frameworks for such facilities.”
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by RPD
Tuesday, November 14, 2023|3:15–5:00PM EST|Cabinet
Session Chair:
Pavel Tsvetkov (TAMU)
Alternate Chair:
Massimiliano Fratoni
Session Organizer:
Blair P. Bromley
With the exception of remote regions or regions with very small grid demand (<300 MWe), it is anticipated that there should still be a good long-term market for large-scale modular reactors (LMRs) to replace clusters of smaller-sized thermal power generating stations using fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), and also to build new LMRs at existing reactor sites in the United States, and other nations, especially to supply baseload electricity for major urban centers and metropolitan regions with more than 1,000,000 people. The purpose of this panel discussion is to discuss and review design options, markets and tradeoffs for the implementation of larger-scale reactors that have a number of modular features that can help reduce absolute and relative capital costs, operational costs, and can reduce construction time periods, such that they will have some of the proposed and anticipated advantages of small modular reactors (SMRs). Another issue for consideration and discussion is the sustainability of the nuclear power industry, whereby a given vendor must manufacture and sell a minimum number of reactor units on a periodic basis in order to maintain financial sustainability and technical capabilities and manufacturing infrastructure. Discussion of energy storage and load following capabilities for LMRs is another important consideration.
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