ANS News

The American Nuclear Society coordinated an effort with eight nongovernmental organizations in asking Congress to update the Environmental Protection Agency’s generic standards for the safe, permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste.

One of the privileges of being president of the American Nuclear Society is awarding presidential citations to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding effort in some manner for the benefit of ANS or the nuclear community. Citations are conferred twice each year, at the Annual and Winter Meetings. ANS President Kenneth Petersen has named this season’s recipients, who will receive recognition at the upcoming Winter Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C.

ANS also announces the winners of awards presented by the Society’s professional divisions. These awards will be mailed to the recipients, and the divisions will recognize honorees at various division functions and meetings this fall. The 19 professional divisions of ANS are constituent units and represent a vast array of nuclear science and technology disciplines.

In the last few years, public investment in both new and existing nuclear technology has expanded alongside a rise in public support and acceptance. Now is the perfect time for the nuclear industry to seize this momentum by coming together to maintain current nuclear plants, expanding the nuclear workforce, strengthening the supply chain and infrastructure, increasing public- and private-sector investments, and continuing to advocate for the benefits of nuclear power.

Bill Loeb, a charter member of the American Nuclear Society who was present at ANS’s founding and who served as a naval officer during World War II, passed away this year at the age of 98. Loeb was active in the nuclear workforce after his military service, founding a company that provided food preserved with gamma radiation to the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Loeb maintained his ANS membership and “lived an active, full life,” according to his youngest son, Jonathan.

This summer, the American Nuclear Society supported two student members who participated in the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) Program, a nine-week program that gives engineering and technology students the chance to spend a summer learning about public policy. This year’s ANS-sponsored WISE interns, Sarah Cole of Boise State University and Abbey Hageman of the University of Nevada–Reno, arrived in Washington, D.C., in May, where during the course of the program they made professional contacts, researched and presented policy papers (published in the WISE Journal of Engineering and Public Policy), and learned how government officials make decisions on complex technological issues—and how engineers contribute to this process.

At the American Nuclear Society’s 2023 Winter Meeting in November, a panel of experts will provide insights and opinions on the funding of nuclear energy research in the United States. The executive session “Rethinking How We Structure Federal R&D Programs in Nuclear Energy” will feature the University of Michigan’s Todd Allen, Aditi Verma, and Sola Talabi, and Idaho National Laboratory’s Jess Gehin.

The American Nuclear Society’s largest and most anticipated annual event, the Winter Conference and Expo, will take place November 12–15 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

This year’s theme is “Maintaining the Momentum,” which suits nuclear energy’s current moment in the spotlight. In the last few years, public investment in both new and existing nuclear technology has expanded alongside a rise in public support and acceptance. Now is the perfect time for the nuclear industry to seize this momentum by coming together to maintain current nuclear plants, expand the nuclear workforce, strengthen supply chains and infrastructure, increase public and private sector investments, and continue to advocate for the benefits of nuclear power.

The American Nuclear Society is pleased to celebrate Mehdi Sarram on the 60th anniversary of his membership. He joined the Society in 1963 when he was an undergraduate in nuclear engineering at the University of Michigan and has since served the nuclear energy industry as a nuclear engineer, reactor operator, professor, and mentor. Over the years, Sarram has been active in several local ANS sections and has made remarkable contributions to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including bringing Iran’s first nuclear reactor to full power.

The next opportunity to earn professional engineer (P.E.) licensure in nuclear engineering is just around the corner: the Principles and Practice of Engineering Examination for nuclear engineering will be administered nationwide on October 24, 2023. If you are preparing to take the exam on this day, best of luck!

ANSI/ANS-8.21-2023, Use of Fixed Neutron Absorbers in Nuclear Facilities Outside Reactors, has just been issued by the American Nuclear Society Standards Committee. The standard was approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on June 20, 2023, as a revision and consolidation of ANS-8.21-1995 (R2019) (withdrawn) (same title) and ANS-8.5-1996 (R2022) (withdrawn), Use of Borosilicate-Glass Raschig Rings as a Neutron Absorber in Solutions of Fissile Material. ANSI/ANS-8.21-2023 provides guidance for the use of neutron absorbers, including Raschig rings, as an integral part of nuclear facilities equipment, fissile material, or fuel components outside reactors, where such absorbers are credited to provide criticality safety control.

Class was back in session this spring when, after a hiatus, the American Nuclear Society hosted its third session of Nuclear Energy 101 in Washington, D.C., for congressional staffers. This five-course educational series is a wonderful—and popular—tool for ANS to network with congressional staff and explain the basics of nuclear science and technology.

Excitement is building for the 2023 American Nuclear Society Winter Conference and Expo, which will be held November 12–15 in Washington, D.C. The Society has named the recipients of 11 awards that will be presented at that time, as well as six new Fellows, who will be honored during the opening plenary.

American Nuclear Society Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy visited One White Flint North, where he sat down with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chair Christopher Hanson for a one-on-one interview on September 18, 2023. The interview is available exclusively to ANS members to watch this week before it is released to the public. ANS members won’t want to miss the hour-long discussion, where Hanson opens up about important topics facing the NRC and the nuclear community and what he sees as the big successes during his first term as chair.

The American Nuclear Society has added two new books to its publication catalog: Robert Busch’s Nuclear Criticality Safety: Evaluations, Calculations, and Experiences and Raymond J. Juzaitis’s Redemption of Prometheus: Creating a Sustainable Nuclear Enterprise for the 21st Century. The titles were released for purchase in late August and early September, respectively.

The next opportunity to earn professional engineer (P.E.) licensure in nuclear engineering will be this fall when the exam is administered nationwide on October 24, 2023. If you haven't yet done so, you can brush up for the exam by obtaining the various preparation materials made available by the American Nuclear Society.

According to Joshua Vajda, chair of the ANS Professional Engineering Examination Committee (PEEC), it is important for ANS as a scientific society to continue to encourage professional licensure: “Emphasizing the importance of obtaining nuclear credentials is a Society initiative to maintain high ethical standards in the industry and to provide career advancement for the next generation of young practicing nuclear engineers.”

The American Nuclear Society has published the following new standard, which is available for purchase in the ANS Store:

ANSI/ANS-8.21-2023, Use of Fixed Neutron Absorbers in Nuclear Facilities Outside Reactors (revision of ANSI/ANS-8.21-1995; R2019)

Immediate past president Steven Arndt announced at the ANS Annual Meeting that Yassin Hassan, Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor, and the L. F. Peterson ’36 Chair II in Engineering at Texas A&M University, will be the next technical editor of ANS’s Nuclear Technology journal.

Following the 2022 Annual Meeting, ANS past president Andrew Klein (2016–2017), professor emeritus of nuclear science and engineering at Oregon State University and the current editor of NT, announced that he would retire at the end of his term in June 2023. That started the clock for ANS’s Technical Journals Committee to begin the search for a new technical editor. After numerous virtual meetings and interviews, the committee, chaired by ANS members Robert Little and Elia Merzari, recommended Hassan to Arndt per the ANS bylaws.

The seven new members of the ANS Board of Directors began their terms at the end of the 2023 ANS Annual Meeting. The newest members include the vice president/president-elect, four U.S. members elected to three-year terms, one non-U.S. member of the Board, and a student member. Get to know a little about the new ANS leadership below.

The American Nuclear Society’s national meetings and ANS’s honors and awards program are a unique pairing. Through the program, ANS recognizes outstanding achievements and meritorious services in the various fields served by the Society. Every year, ANS awards are split into two, with some awarded in June at the Annual Meeting and others in November at the Winter Meeting.

Really taking off during the pandemic, ANS’s online event programming remains very strong and continues to be a great resource for the nuclear community. This year alone, ANS has produced 14 different webinars—some of which are only available to members, with most available to the general public.