Women including Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Lise Meitner, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Katharine Way were key pioneers in nuclear science and technology, but today the visibility of women in the nuclear sector remains low. Women make up just one-quarter of people employed in the nuclear sector, and for STEM positions in that field specifically, they also make up just one-quarter of the workforce. About 8,000 of those women responded to an a survey from the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, and their responses have been captured in Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector, a new report from the OECD NEA.

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.

The Department of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University has spent the 2020–2021 academic year celebrating the 70th anniversary of its becoming the first U.S. university to establish a nuclear engineering curriculum. It started in 1950, when Clifford Beck, then of Oak Ridge, Tenn., obtained support from NC State’s dean of engineering, Harold Lampe, to build the nation’s first university nuclear reactor and, in conjunction, establish an educational curriculum dedicated to nuclear engineering.

The department, host to the 2021 ANS Virtual Student Conference, scheduled for April 8–10, now features 23 tenure/tenure-track faculty and three research faculty members. “What a journey for the first nuclear engineering curriculum in the nation,” said Kostadin Ivanov, professor and department head.

Magwood

Peters

ANS Fellows William D. Magwood IV and Mark T. Peters have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Magwood, an ANS member since 1983, is the secretary general for the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. He was elected for “leadership and contributions to research programs that drive innovation in global nuclear energy enterprises.”

Peters, an ANS member since 2007 and the executive vice president for Laboratory Operations at Battelle, was elected “for leadership and contributions in advancing U.S. nuclear energy capabilities and infrastructure.”