Excitement builds for ANS Virtual Annual Meeting

June 5, 2020, 2:55PMANS News

The 2020 ANS Virtual Annual Meeting promises to be a unique event in the history of the American Nuclear Society. The first all-virtual ANS meeting runs from June 8 to 11 and is being conducted via Zoom, a videoconferencing app that has gained widespread popularity since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 1,700 registrants have already signed up, making for the largest ANS meeting in modern history. More than 90 sessions will be held, with over 200 papers to be presented. Meeting registration will be open through Wednesday, June 10.

ANS backs NRC rulemaking on spent fuel reprocessing

June 1, 2020, 5:07PMANS News

Piercy

Nesbit

ANS Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on May 28 urging the agency to resume work on a proposed rulemaking to allow spent fuel reprocessing in the United States. As the letter explains, “the lack of an efficient, technically robust, and technology-inclusive regulatory foundation for reprocessing and recycling is a barrier to innovation.”

Steve Nesbit, who was recently elected ANS’s next vice president/president-elect, chairs the ANS Nuclear Waste Policy Task Force and helped develop the letter. ANS News staff talked with Nesbit about the development and goals of ANS’s participation in the NRC’s rulemaking process.

Lyons selected for Eisenhower Medal

June 1, 2020, 1:08PMANS News

Lyons

Peter B. Lyons, ANS Fellow and member since 2003, is set to receive the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal in a virtual award ceremony presentation held June 8 during the 2020 ANS Virtual Annual Meeting. Lyons is being recognized for his influential leadership in nuclear technology policy over five decades and for the vital role he played in the nuclear renaissance of the early 21st century.

Spotlight finds NREL in latest YMG webinar

May 29, 2020, 9:27AMANS News

The ANS Young Members Group (YMG) continues to deliver an in-depth look at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories through a series of live webinars called Spotlight on National Labs. The fourth and most recent webinar focused on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colo., and its role in advancing clean energy technologies and their integration into the global energy system. “It is exciting to have the lead renewable energy national lab discuss their work toward a flexible grid of the future and system integration efforts among all carbon-free sources, including nuclear energy,” said Harsh Desai, YMG chair.

ANS members re-elected to NEI board of directors

May 26, 2020, 1:56PMANS News

American Nuclear Society members Mark T. Peters, Kenneth W. Robuck, and Thomas R. White were reelected to the Nuclear Energy Institute’s board of directors during its May 20 meeting. The board is composed of executives from companies that hold licenses to operate nuclear energy facilities and selected representatives of other organizations involved in commercial nuclear technologies. Members of the executive committee and the board’s non-utility members typically serve three-year terms, and officers are elected annually.

Navigating Nuclear: Bringing it home

May 26, 2020, 11:03AMANS News

American Nuclear Society members who are parent­ing K–12 students have been drafted to serve as home ed­ucators during the COVID-19 pandemic. While schools may have provided e-learning resources, the school year is at an end. How can concerned parents prevent the dreaded summer slide?

Here’s our suggestion: turn to Navigating Nuclear: Energizing Our World, ANS’s K–12 curriculum devel­oped in partnership with Discovery Education, and teach nuclear chem­istry! Even if you live apart from the children in your life, consider using Zoom to introduce Navigating Nuclear to children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

ANS Virtual Trivia Night: The world’s first Zoom nuclear trivia event?

May 13, 2020, 12:08PMANS News

ANS’s first Virtual Trivia Night drew over 80 contestants who were ready to test their nuclear knowledge during an evening of Zoom-based socialization sponsored by the ANS Young Members Group, the Student Sections Committee, and the Diversity and Inclusion in ANS Committee. YMG Vice Chair Catherine Prat hosted the May 8 event. “I really appreciated seeing how engaged the players were throughout the night,” she said. “They were great guinea pigs for this first-of-a-kind event, as we continue to explore ways to connect virtually.”

ANS standards updates

May 12, 2020, 1:29PMNuclear News

ANS publishes standards that set forth requirements for the design, manufacture, or operation of a piece of equipment. These standards can address computer firmware and software, and can address the necessary physical and functional features of equipment, its safe application, or some combination of these. These standards are applied on a voluntary basis, and when adopted by a state or federal agency, they becomes part of their mandatory codes.

ANS standards are available at the ANS Standards store.

The following standards have been approved, published, or are open for comment.

“Top-secret” Los Alamos is in the spotlight

May 8, 2020, 2:10PMANS News

The ANS Young Members Group (YMG) is delivering an in-depth look at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories through a series of live webinars called Spotlight on National Labs. The third and most recent webinar attracted more than 1,000 participants who were keen to learn about the mission and key projects of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

ANS elections: Nesbit named VP/president-elect, Board seats filled

April 24, 2020, 4:46PMEdited May 1, 2020, 2:59PMANS News

Nesbit

All the votes are counted and Steven P. Nesbit, an ANS member since 1989, has been elected the next ANS vice president/president-elect. Five candidates were elected to serve three-year terms as at-large members of the Board of Directors. The new VP/president-elect and directors will begin their terms on June 11 during the 2020 ANS Annual Meeting, which is being conducted online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New ANS professional division officers and executive committee members named

April 24, 2020, 4:46PMANS News

Listed below are the ANS professional divisions’ 2020–2021 officers and newly elected executive committee members. All terms begin during the ANS Annual Meeting in June. (Executive committee members whose three-year terms are continuing are not included.)

More information about ANS’s 19 professional divisions and two working groups is available by clicking the link.

ANS is your nuclear resource during COVID-19

April 14, 2020, 2:54PMUpdated April 23, 2020, 9:12AMANS News

This story was updated on April 29 with details about the ANS Annual Meeting.

The American Nuclear Society remains committed to serving the needs of the nuclear community even as the COVID-19 pandemic affects how we all communicate. Read on to learn more about the timely content that ANS is delivering to fit the way you live and work today.