Development: Taking Charge of Your Career

January 18, 2012, 7:00AMANS Nuclear CafeElizabeth McAndrews-Benavides and Jennifer Varnedoe

Every member of the nuclear industry has a responsibility to focus on his or her own career development as a component of continuous improvement. While this is good advice, young professionals often struggle with how to identify these development opportunities. The question of how to overcome this challenge spirited discussion at the 2011 Young Professionals Conference.

ANS Students and Young Professionals Visit Capitol Hill

November 22, 2011, 7:00AMANS Nuclear CafeLenka Kollar

During the American Nuclear Society's 2011 Winter Meeting in November, about 90 ANS members visited lawmakers to promote nuclear energy and technology as part of the ANS/Young Professionals Congress visit to Capitol Hill. As a student at Purdue University, which is located in Indiana, I met with legislative assistants from the offices of Indiana senators Richard Lugar (R.) and Dan Coats (R.) and Congressman Todd Rokita (R.).

Young nuclear professionals visit Capitol Hill

November 21, 2011, 7:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

One of the most exciting and important events at the American Nuclear Society's Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, this year was the "Capitol Hill Day" visit held on November 4.  This event allowed society members the opportunity to go to Capitol Hill to meet with congress persons and staffs, and to offer unique expertise as the world's foremost experts in nuclear technologies.

Hall Talk at ANS Winter Meeting - Sunday

October 31, 2011, 12:59AMANS Nuclear CafeDan Yurman

Snow day

Your reporter has been tramping around chilly Washington, DC, beset by an unseasonable early snow storm on Saturday. At the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting, aptly named this year, I'm collecting observations, rumors, and raw random data, throwing out the rumors and keeping the rest to post here. This will be a daily feature through Wednesday of this week.

The ANS Young Professionals Congress 2011 - follow on Twitter!

October 29, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafePeter Caracappa

 We are just a few days away from the 2011 Young Professionals Congress, taking place during the ANS Winter Meeting next week in Washington, DC. We have many exciting and informative sessions scheduled for the meeting-informational sessions on important current topics, workshops, and interactive skills sessions (to find out more, see Nuclear Cafe posts 9-21 and  8-30).

How much can change in a couple of months?

May 25, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafePeter Caracappa

The basic thesis of a post I wrote in January was that the Chernobyl accident was far enough in the past that the younger generation in the nuclear industry did not have the first-hand memories of the experience, and therefore lacked some of the emotional understanding of the event. I suggested that there should be a conscious effort to pass on how Chernobyl and Three Mile Island affected the culture of the industry.

Chernobyl and nuclear knowledge transfer

January 20, 2011, 7:00AMANS Nuclear CafePeter Caracappa

At a session on educational programs during a recent ANS meeting, a fairly new graduate student in nuclear engineering described a nuclear survey course that he had taken at his university. The graduate student had not studied nuclear engineering as an undergrad, and when he said, "I had never really heard of Chernobyl before I took this course," you could almost hear an audible gasp among the more, well, mature members of the audience.

We always knew nuclear was green!

November 3, 2010, 3:25PMANS Nuclear CafeJennifer Varnedoe and Liz McAndrew-Benavides

This year's North American - Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) continental conference was held in May and was themed "Leading the Change: Go Green." Participants learned that the future of electricity production in the United States would be heavily influenced by the desire to combat global warming. This desire is starting a national debate on how the country should select technologies for new electricity production facilities.