ANS News


What did I do wrong? Or, “What did we do wrong?”

March 9, 2022, 3:01PMANS NewsSteven P. Nesbit

Steven P. Nesbit
president@ans.org

Have you ever been punished for something you didn’t do? It happens to most of us on occasion while growing up, especially if we have siblings. It’s not the end of the world, and it teaches a valuable lesson: Life is not fair. Nevertheless, when it happens, it really rankles you.

The “issue” of nuclear waste provides me with instant recall of those unpleasant childhood memories. Commercial nuclear power plants have been managing low-level waste and used nuclear fuel safely and efficiently since the beginning of the nuclear enterprise. Industry is adept at minimizing, packaging, transporting, and disposing of LLW. Used fuel is stored safely and securely at reactor sites, awaiting disposal.

Forty years ago, nuclear power plant operators entered into contracts with the federal government. The deal was simple. The operators would pay the U.S. government a lot of money, and the government would pick up the relatively small amount of used fuel and dispose of it in a geologic repository, beginning in 1998. The money changed hands, but the used fuel never did.

ANS presents members-only event on HALEU and nuclear energy’s future

March 8, 2022, 12:00PMANS News

ANS is hosting an expert panel for the members-only virtual event, “High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium: Fueling Nuclear Energy’s Future,” on Friday, March 11, from 10 to 11 a.m. (EST).

Register now for the event. Can't attend live? Register to receive a link to the recording.

Support Ukraine’s nuclear community impacted by war

March 1, 2022, 12:17PMANS News

The brave nuclear professionals of Ukraine and their families need support from the international community as they continue to safely operate their country’s nuclear fleet during the Russian invasion. In response to this need, ANS has set up the Ukrainian Nuclear Workers Humanitarian Fund to support the nuclear community in Ukraine.

"We stand in awe of the bravery and resolution displayed by the Ukrainian people,” ANS President Steven Nesbit said. “We need to do what we can to help our fellow nuclear professionals and their families across the globe as they deal with a situation no one should have to face."

An invitation to list in the 2022 Nuclear News Buyers Guide

February 28, 2022, 9:30AMANS News

For more than 50 years, the Nuclear News Buyers Guide has been the most comprehensive goods and services resource used worldwide by the nuclear community. Submissions are now open for this year’s edition: the American Nuclear Society invites all companies that perform or seek nuclear-related work to participate by identifying your areas of expertise and providing your contact information. There is no charge to be listed—simply visit the Buyers Guide dedicated web page by March 8 to create a new company listing or to verify your company’s information.

Past NRC chairs to share views on future of nuclear

February 23, 2022, 12:00PMANS News

ANS will host a virtual event titled “Perspectives from Past Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairs" on Thursday, February 24, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST.

The speakers: The webinar features four former high-ranking NRC leaders.

  • William Magwood (moderator), Director-General, Nuclear Energy Agency, NRC Commissioner 2010–2014
  • Richard Meserve, Senior of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP, NRC Chair 1999–2003
  • Dale Klein, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in the Office of Academic Affairs, The University of Texas System, NRC Chair 2006–2009
  • Stephen Burns, Senior Visiting Fellow, Third Way, NRC Chair 2015–2017

Register now. The event is complimentary and open to all.

ANS to host webinar highlighting the Black community in nuclear

February 8, 2022, 6:59AMANS News

The American Nuclear Society will host a one-hour webinar this Thursday, February 10, at 2:00 p.m. EST, celebrating “Black Excellence in the Nuclear Field.” The free webinar will be moderated by Lisa Marshall of North Carolina State University and will feature former U.S. assistant secretary for nuclear energy Warren “Pete” Miller, X-energy’s Jeff Harper, Idaho National Laboratory’s J’Tia Hart, and Booz Allen Hamilton’s Christina Leggett.

Open access publication available for ANS journals

February 4, 2022, 9:30AMANS News

Researchers demand options for the publication of their results, and so-called open access (OA) publication is a top priority for many academics. Increasingly, in the changing landscape of scholarly publishing, calls from authors and readers send a clear message: Papers should be freely available to be read by anyone, anytime, without a subscription.

With ANS’s three technical journalsNuclear Science and Engineering, Nuclear Technology, and Fusion Science and Technology—they can be.

Nominations being accepted for 2022 ANS Annual Meeting awards

January 26, 2022, 9:30AMANS News

For more than 50 years, the ANS Honors and Awards Program has recognized outstanding achievements and meritorious service in the various fields served by the American Nuclear Society.

The recipients of the national awards listed below will be honored on June 13 during the opening plenary session of the 2022 ANS Annual Meeting. Honorees will be notified of their selection by May.

All members are encouraged to review the nomination requirements for these awards and consider nominating a qualified colleague. Many ANS awards are open to non-ANS members, and nominating colleagues who are not members is one way to foster new ANS relationships.

ANS publishes solid waste processing system standard

January 25, 2022, 7:00AMANS News

The American Nuclear Society has just published ANSI/ANS-55.1-2021, Solid Radioactive Waste Processing System for Light-Water-Cooled Reactor Plants. The standard was originally issued in 1979 with a revision in 1992 to provide design guidance for in-plant solid radwaste systems.

Check out a preview or purchase ANSI/ANS-55.1-2021 in the ANS Standards Store.

2022 ANS vice president/president-elect candidates provide statements

January 19, 2022, 3:15PMANS News

Ahead of the upcoming 2022 ANS national election, the nominees for vice president/president-­elect have prepared statements outlining their goals for ANS. The nominees are Bradley J. Adams, an ANS Fellow and member since 2009 and vice president of engineering at Southern Nuclear Company, and Kenneth S. Petersen, an ANS member since 1987 and a private consultant who recently retired from Exelon Generation as vice president of nuclear fuels.

The elected candidate will succeed current ANS vice president/president-­elect Steven Arndt in June 2022, when Arndt becomes president.

Ballots for the 2022 election will be sent electronically on February 22 and completed ballots must be submitted by 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 12.

Piercy's opening remarks at the ANS Winter Meeting

January 19, 2022, 7:04AMANS NewsCraig Piercy

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

ANS ended 2021 on a high note with our first post-pandemic national meeting, held in Washington, D.C. What follows is a lightly edited version of remarks, shorn of opening and closing pleasantries, that I gave to 500-plus attendees during the opening plenary session:

I think the big question everyone will be asking this week will be some form of “How did you spend the pandemic?” I can tell you how ANS spent the pandemic: on a strict quarantine diet and fitness program.

We’ve figured out how to maintain what we believe is a higher level of service on 20 percent fewer FTEs. We’ve rebuilt our digital infrastructure and have a firm path forward toward a modern data architecture. We are in the process of selling our headquarters building in La Grange Park, Ill., and moving to a smaller, more manageable footprint in suburban Chicago, with an outpost in Washington, D.C.

The nuclear community rallies to save Diablo Canyon

January 13, 2022, 7:01AMANS News
Pro-nuclear groups rallied to keep Diablo Canyon open beyond 2025 in front of the San Luis-Obispo County Courthouse in California on December 4, 2021. (Photo: Save Clean Energy)

Over the past couple of months, the nuclear community has participated in a grassroots effort to save the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant from premature closure—and it appears to be having an effect. The growing support for keeping Diablo Canyon open is seen in editorials, an academic study from Stanford/MIT, and a grassroots rally held in December 2021 to show support for keeping Diablo Canyon operating.

University of Illinois to host ANS Student Conference

January 11, 2022, 7:03AMANS News
UIUC Student Section members. (Photo: UIUC NPRE)

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ANS Student Section is preparing to host the 2022 ANS Student Conference, to be held April 14–16 on the university campus. Registration is now open for the first in-person ANS student conference since 2019.

Page charges eliminated from ANS technical journals

January 4, 2022, 3:02PMANS News

For well over 30 years, ANS leadership has sparred with members of the academic community about the issue of page charges for ANS’s publications. Page charges have been in place all this time as a way to cover the cost of publication for those journals, as well as to support other beneficial activities of the Society. However, especially in recent years, attitudes among academic publishers have shifted, and page charges for technical journal publications are essentially extinct. ANS’s three technical journals—Nuclear Science and Engineering, Nuclear Technology, and Fusion Science and Technology—have held on to the page charge revenue stream despite vocal criticism from the community.

Until now.

2022 ANS Congressional Fellow begins work on Senate committee staff

January 4, 2022, 12:01PMANS News

Marzano

Matthew Marzano is beginning a year of service in Washington, D.C., as the 2022 Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow, and he is excited about bringing his nuclear power experience to the policy-making process.

“I am most looking forward to the opportunity to learn about the legislative process and the conduct of business on Capitol Hill. Oftentimes we are presented a picture of a dysfunctional Congress through the media, but I’ve gathered through the orientation process and congressional interviews that collaboration is alive and well, especially in the area of clean energy,” Marzano said.

Infrastucture aging standard now available from ANS

December 10, 2021, 12:00PMANS News