Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Orléans, have modeled radionuclide behavior in deep geologic formations, offering a tool for developing a defensible safety case for the underground disposal of radioactive waste.

Hash Hashemian
president@ans.org

I am deeply honored and grateful to have been elected president of the American Nuclear Society. Your support and confidence in me are truly humbling, and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you.

As president, my top priority is to expedite the deployment of new nuclear reactors, beginning with small modular reactors and eventually progressing to Generation IV systems. I will also work to ensure that the United States keeps its global leadership in this field. For the U.S. to do that, the federal government must maintain and expand its financial support of the nuclear industry by preserving critical incentives, tax provisions, and infrastructure investments.

Less than a week after news broke of the U.S. entering into civil nuclear talks with Malaysia, the U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani have also signed a memorandum of understanding concerning civil nuclear cooperation.

The Nuclear Energy Maritime Organization (NEMO) recently announced that it was officially granted nongovernmental organization consultative status with the International Maritime Organization.

The last time the American Nuclear Society Board of Directors approved a strategic plan was back in 2018 under the direction of past president Bob Coward. Realizing a lot has changed with both ANS and the wider nuclear community, the current Board of Directors decided it was time to give our strategic plan a fresh look. Following the November 2024 ANS Conference, the Board has undertaken a comprehensive strategic planning process to align the Society’s direction with the realities of the rapidly changing energy and technology landscape.

The Department of Energy has announced a program to accelerate nuclear fuel fabrication for new test reactors. The Fuel Line Pilot Program would see the DOE approve facilities developed by U.S. companies to produce the fuel needed for test reactors the DOE expects to authorize under the Reactor Pilot Program announced in June. Like the reactors they’re meant to fuel, the fabrication facilities would be built on sites outside the DOE’s national laboratories but authorized by the DOE under “a fast-tracked approach to enable future commercial licensing activities for potential applicants.”

Burlison

Rep. Eric Burlison (R., Mo.), the chairman of the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, has announced a hearing on “The New Atomic Age: Advancing America’s Energy Future.”

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, July 22, at 1:00 pm (ET). Witnesses include Alex Epstein, president and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, and Joshua Smith, energy policy lead at the Abundance Institute.

Details: According to the chairman’s office, the hearing will explore recent developments in nuclear energy technology, the commercial viability of advanced reactors, supply chain challenges, and policy pathways for Congress to strengthen nuclear power in the United States.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has launched an infographic design contest for young professionals aged 18 to 35 to raise awareness about emergency preparedness and response (EPR) in nuclear and radiological contexts.

Contest guidelines and terms can be found here.

Radiation protection specialists agree that clear communication of radiation risks remains a vexing challenge that cannot be solved solely by finding new ways to convey technical information.

Earlier this year, an article in Nuclear News described a new radiation risk communication tool, known as the Radiation Index, or, RAIN (“Let it RAIN: A new approach to radiation communication,” NN, Jan. 2025, p. 36). The authors of the article created the RAIN scale to improve radiation risk communication to the general public who are not well-versed in important aspects of radiation exposures, including radiation dose quantities, units, and values; associated health consequences; and the benefits derived from radiation exposures.

Teams from the Department of Energy’s Offices of Environmental Management and Nuclear Energy recently collaborated on the Road Ready Demonstration Project by testing new equipment to seal spent nuclear fuel into a safe and transportable system for future shipments out of Idaho.

A reactor vessel has been installed by Kairos Power for its third Engineering Test Unit (ETU 3.0) at the company’s campus in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The Idaho National Laboratory has announced that it will collaborate with Microsoft on the use of artificial intelligence technologies to streamline the nuclear permitting and licensing application process. Using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform, INL will generate the engineering and safety analysis reports that are required to be submitted for construction permits and operating licenses for nuclear power plants.

Following the signing of a new agreement, Kiewit Nuclear Solutions, a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, is officially the lead constructor for Oklo’s first commercial Aurora powerhouse, which will be built at Idaho National Laboratory.

Representatives across all levels of Pennsylvania government convened at Carnegie Mellon University on July 15 with investors and key leaders in the energy community at the behest of Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.).

The American Nuclear Society hosted a webinar this week featuring key leaders from the nuclear community in Texas to discuss the shape of the industry today and where it is heading.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which currently has three serving commissioners and—according to recent media reports—a detailee from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is accelerating licensing timelines to meet the requirements of President Trump’s May 23 Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” and the ADVANCE Act. On top of that, the agency is preparing for an anticipated rush of applications while dealing with a reduced workforce.

The Boston-based Deon Policy Institute has published a white paper that examines the applications of nuclear energy in the maritime sector—specifically, floating nuclear power plants and nuclear propulsion for commercial vessels. Topics covered include available technologies, preliminary cost estimates, and a status update on the regulatory framework.

Unique opportunity: The paper points out that nuclear energy has the potential to benefit the shipping industry with high energy efficiency, lower operating costs, and zero carbon emissions. The report has a special focus on Greece, a nation that controls about 20 percent of the global commercial fleet and thus has an opportunity to take a leading role in the transition to nuclear-powered shipping.

When ABET visits universities for accreditation purposes, it’s crucial that a qualified nuclear expert performs the assessment of that school’s nuclear engineering, radiological engineering, and/or health physics programs. The Accreditation Policies and Procedures Committee (APPC) of the American Nuclear Society works to ensure that a program evaluator (PEV) from the Society leads these ABET assessments.

For 2,300 hours, the molten salt pump Shaft Seal Test Facility (SSTF) operated at the University of Michigan’s Thermal Hydraulics Laboratory, according to an article from UM. The large-scale experiment was designed to evaluate shaft seal performance in high-temperature pump systems. Fewer than 10 facilities worldwide have successfully operated fluoride or chloride salts for more than 100 hours using over 10 kilograms of material.

By Craig H. Piercy, CEO and Executive Director of the American Nuclear Society

Eighty years ago today, at exactly 5:29:45 a.m. local time* on July 16, 1945, the United States Army detonated the world’s first nuclear bomb in the Jornada del Muerto desert of southern New Mexico. The searing flash and thunderous shockwave marked the culmination of the Manhattan Project, a secret, three-year national effort to harness nuclear fission and hasten the end of the Second World War.

The Trinity Test, overseen by Manhattan Project director Major General Leslie Groves and Los Alamos Laboratory director Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, was the final act of that race to build the atomic bomb. Hoisted atop a 100-foot steel tower, the plutonium implosion device, known as the Gadget, unleashed a blast equal to 21,000 tons of TNT and temperatures hotter than the center of the sun.

From ten miles away, observers wearing darkened welder goggles looked on in stunned silence. “We knew the world would not be the same,” recalled Oppenheimer.