It’s almost been a full year since the American Nuclear Society held its inaugural section of Nuclear 101, a comprehensive certificate course on the basics of the nuclear field. Offered at the 2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo, that first sold-out course marked a massive milestone in the Society’s expanding work in professional development and certification.

Following official confirmation in June at the American Nuclear Society’s 2025 Annual Conference, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has kicked off its first year as the newest ANS student section.

The sold-out inaugural Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX) got off to a roaring start in Atlanta, Ga., Tuesday morning with an opening plenary that included a highlight reel of the latest industry achievements.

The lively promo video left the audience amped up for Entergy CEO and NEI chair Drew Marsh, who welcomed everyone to the event, which is being hosted jointly by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute. He spoke to a full house of more than 1,300 attendees, promising a blend of science, technology, policy, and advocacy centered around the future of nuclear energy.

ANSI/ANS-54.8-2025, Liquid Metal Fire Protection in LMR Plants, received approval from the American National Standards Institute on September 2 and is now available for purchase.

The 2025 edition is a reinvigoration of the withdrawn ANS-54.8-1988 of the same title. The Advanced Reactor Codes and Standards Collaborative (ARCSC) identified the need for a current version of the standard via an industry survey.

Typical liquid metal reactor designs use liquid sodium as the coolant for both the primary and intermediate heat-transport systems. In addition, liquid sodium and NaK (a mixture of sodium and potassium that is liquid at room temperature) are often used in auxiliary heat-removal systems. Since these liquid metals can react readily with oxygen, water, and other compounds, special precautions must be taken in the design, construction, testing, and maintenance of the sodium/NaK systems to ensure that the potential for leakage is very small.

The American Nuclear Society’s Risk-informed, Performance-based Principles and Policy Committee (RP3C) has held another presentation in its monthly Community of Practice (CoP) series. Former RP3C chair N. Prasad Kadambi opened the meeting with brief introductory remarks about the RP3C and the need for new approaches to nuclear design that go beyond conventional and deterministic methods. He then welcomed this month’s speaker: Kent Welter, a member of the ANS Standards Board and chief engineer of testing and analysis at NuScale, who presented “RIPB Design and Licensing of the NuScale US460 Small Modular Reactor.”

Watch the full webinar here.

The next opportunity to earn professional engineer (P.E.) licensure in nuclear engineering is this fall. Sign up now to enhance your studying with the help of the online module program from the American Nuclear Society.

With this year’s awards already presented at the American Nuclear Society Annual Conference in June, the ANS Honors and Awards (H&A) Committee has set its sights on planning for next year’s distinctions. To that end, the H&A Committee is now soliciting suggested topics for the 2026 Special Award.

Kasper

Hayes

The American Nuclear Society has officially selected two of its members to serve as its 2026 Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows. Alyssa Hayes and Benjamin Kasper will help the Society fulfill its strategic goal of enhancing nuclear policy by working in the halls of Congress, either in a congressional member’s personal office or with a committee, starting next January.

“The Congressional Fellowship program has put ANS in a unique position to provide significant technical assistance to Congress on nuclear science, energy, and technology, with great results,” said Congressional Fellowship Special Committee chair Harsh Desai, himself a former Congressional Fellow. “This once-in-a-lifetime professional development opportunity will allow them to learn the art of policymaking and potentially pursue it as part of their careers beyond the fellowship.”

Christensen

Woosley

Mike Woosley and Jacob Christensen, the 2025 recipients of the American Nuclear Society’s Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship, are now more than halfway through their stints on the Hill. Their fellowships will draw to a close in December.

To update the Society on what they have accomplished in Washington, D.C., so far, Woosley and Christensen recently gave Nuclear News a midterm update on which offices they ended up in and what they hope to do with their remaining time in the Capitol.

Five of ANS’s past Congressional Fellows recently shared their unique experiences on Capitol Hill and gave insights into how they were able to have an impact on federal policy related to nuclear, exploring what they learned about the policymaking process and how ANS can continue having an impact in Washington.

The Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX) is a new joint conference hosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute. The inaugural offering of the conference, NECX 2025, will be held September 8–11 in Atlanta, Ga.

To register for the event and reserve your room at the host hotel, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, click here.

The last time the American Nuclear Society Board of Directors approved a strategic plan was back in 2018 under the direction of past president Bob Coward. Realizing a lot has changed with both ANS and the wider nuclear community, the current Board of Directors decided it was time to give our strategic plan a fresh look. Following the November 2024 ANS Conference, the Board has undertaken a comprehensive strategic planning process to align the Society’s direction with the realities of the rapidly changing energy and technology landscape.

The American Nuclear Society hosted a webinar this week featuring key leaders from the nuclear community in Texas to discuss the shape of the industry today and where it is heading.

Applications are now open for the summer 2025 testing period for the American Nuclear Society’s Certified Nuclear Professional (CNP) exam. Applications are being accepted through July 25, and only three testing sessions are offered per year, so it is important to apply soon.

The test will be administered from August 12 through September 9. To check eligibility and schedule your exam, click here.

Applications are officially open for the second cohort of the American Nuclear Society’s newly redesigned mentoring program. Mentor Match is a unique opportunity available only to ANS members that offers year-round mentorship and networking opportunities to Society members at any point in their education.

The deadline to apply for membership in the fall cohort, which will take place October 1–November 30, is September 17. The application form can be found here.

The day before the 2025 ANS Annual Conference officially began in Chicago, the air was abuzz with the crackle of Geiger counters at Argonne National Laboratory in neighboring Lemont, Ill., where about 100 visitors from across the country attended an outreach and education event hosted by the American Nuclear Society.

The next opportunity to earn professional engineer (PE) licensure in nuclear engineering is this fall, and now is the time to sign up and begin studying with the help of materials like the online module program offered by the American Nuclear Society.

The newest student section of the American Nuclear Society has been launched at New Mexico State University. Formally approved and celebrated at the 2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo, this newest community is the 59th active ANS student section, not including two sections currently in the process of revitalization.

On May 23, President Donald Trump signed four Executive Orders (EOs) designed to “usher in a nuclear energy renaissance” by building on federal policies and programs and directing efficiencies in the licensing, siting, development, and deployment of advanced reactor technologies.

In order to evaluate the specific proposals contained in the EOs, a group of experts was convened from various sectors of the U.S. nuclear technology enterprise, under the auspices of the ANS External Affairs Committee, to compare the EOs against existing ANS board-approved Position Statements and to offer constructive input for subsequent implementation by the Trump administration.

The group’s findings and feedback, which were delivered by ANS CEO Craig Piercy to ANS President Lisa Marshall and the Board of Directors, are listed below, grouped by individual EO.

The American Nuclear Society’s Risk-informed, Performance-based Principles and Policy Committee (RP3C) held another presentation in its monthly Community of Practice (CoP) series on May 2.