ANS President Lisa Marshall recently sat down with Phil Zeringue, vice president of strategic partnerships at Nuclearn.ai to talk about the evolving state of education in the nuclear world.

The nomination period for the 2025 Nuclear News 40 Under 40 list is now open. The list aims to highlight those who are putting in the work to become leaders in the nuclear community. All nominations must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. (CST) on April 30, 2025.

Seven members of the inaugural Nuclear News 40 Under 40 came together on March 4 to discuss the current state of nuclear energy and what the future might hold for science, industry, and the public in terms of nuclear development.

To hear more insights from this talented group of young professionals, watch the “40 Under 40 Roundtable: Perspectives from Nuclear’s Rising Stars” on the ANS website.

Another calendar year has passed. Before heading too far into 2025, let’s look back at what happened in 2024 in the nuclear community. In today's post, compiled from Nuclear News and Nuclear Newswire are what we feel are the top nuclear news stories from October through December 2024.

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

This month’s Nuclear News features our inaugural 40 Under 40 list of the brightest rising stars in the nuclear field.

The time has clearly come for this feature. The current resurgence of nuclear isn’t just a technological transformation; it’s also a changing of the guard. Consider this: For the first time in modern history, the American Nuclear Society has more members under the age of 40 than over the age of 60.

Of course, for as long as I can remember, the nuclear workforce has always been a bit of a double-humped demographic camel. Picture a nuclear workforce age chart and you will see two distinct peaks, or what a statistician might call a “bimodal distribution.” “Peak 1” is on the right and is centered over the Baby Boomer generation, many of whom entered the industry in its heyday of the 1960s and ’70s. These are the men and women who built the nuclear enterprise as we know it today.

Lisa Marshall
president@ans.org

Several questions loom after federal and state elections: What does the future hold for nuclear science and technology? Will there be a shift in direction? How do we continue and expand our impact on energy and nonenergy initiatives? The American Nuclear Society is an organization of people, policies, and products. We innovate, educate, and facilitate collaboration. We advance the field, serving our members and engaging with communities. With every travel assignment, I have witnessed the collective passion and action of our members toward fuller participation and societal enhancement based on nuclear technology. The work is not done, but there is forward momentum.

We have never been a field that does not answer the call, and at this year’s Winter Conference and Expo, we explored the very apt theme “Now comes the hard part.”

Among the plenaries and technical sessions were panels about engaging and educating the next generation of nuclear professionals, the growth of nuclear engineering departments in higher education, a student design competition, and—as one might expect in November during an election year—keeping nuclear out of the political fray.

As the American Nuclear Society’s 2024 Winter Meeting and Expo kicks off in Orlando, Fla., the nuclear industry’s eyes are turned toward the future—advanced technologies, updated regulations, a new administration, and importantly, the future of the workforce.

This year, Nuclear News will recognize the rising stars of the nuclear community when it publishes its first “40 Under 40” list in the December issue. Nominations should be submitted no later than April 1, 2024.