People


ANS members encouraged to apply for 2025 congressional fellowship

March 11, 2024, 3:00PMANS News

The application process is open for the Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship. Participants in this program will work on energy legislation in the halls of Congress as representatives of the American Nuclear Society, either in a congressional member’s personal office or with a committee.

The IAEA celebrates International Women's Day

March 8, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

March 8 is International Women’s Day, and this year the International Atomic Energy Agency is marking the occasion by bringing more than 400 women together for a two-day event on March 7 and 8: For More Women in Nuclear: IAEA Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship and the Lise Meitner Programs.

2024 candidates for ANS leadership positions give statements

January 24, 2024, 3:00PMANS News

The 2024 American Nuclear Society national election opens next month, and ANS News asked the nominees for vice president/president-elect and five seats on the Board of Directors for statements outlining their goals for ANS. Ballots will be sent electronically on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, and must be submitted by 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

Report: White House drops Jeff Baran as NRC nominee

January 23, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

Baran

The White House has given up on the renomination of former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Jeff Baran because of bipartisan opposition in the Senate, according to multiple media reports. After a handful of Democrats joined Senate Republicans to block the nomination last year, President Biden has decided to drop Baran as his pick, HuffPost first reported on Monday.

Baran joined the five-person federal panel in 2014 as an appointee of former president Barack Obama. The NRC oversees atomic energy and radiation safety and has become increasingly politicized in recent years, as different parties push for new processes and procedures for building new reactor types and expanding nuclear infrastructure.

Baran’s term ended in June 2023, and since then the commission has been without a tie-breaker for party-line votes among the four current members. Come June 30, NRC chair Christopher Hanson will complete his term and has yet to be renominated.

NRC names acting executive director for operations

January 16, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News

Furstenau

Raymond V. Furstenau, currently head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Research, has been named acting executive director for operations, effective January 27, upon Daniel Dorman's retirement and until a permanent replacement has been selected.

The EDO is the highest-ranking NRC career position and carries the responsibilities of overseeing the agency's operational and administrative functions and serving as the chief operating officer.

Praise: "Ray is a seasoned executive with exemplary communication and management skills. He's the right person to lead the NRC staff while the commission works together to identify a permanent executive director for operations," said NRC chair Christopher Hanson.

Time flies…

December 23, 2023, 9:43AMNuclear NewsCraig Piercy

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

"Craig, when you are climbing a mountain, make sure you stop once in a while to enjoy the view.”

An old colleague would sometimes say this to me. It’s hard to believe, but last month marked four years as the Executive Director/CEO of the American Nuclear Society.

If you were an ANS member in the fall of 2019, you know the Society was amid a decade-long decline. Membership numbers were falling, the operational deficit was rising, staff morale was poor, and productivity was low. The fear among the elected leadership was that without significant change, ANS could cease to exist in any meaningful or functional way.

I am immensely grateful for the elected leadership of that time—people like ANS past presidents Bob Coward (2017–2018) and Marilyn Kray (2019–2020), who delivered the ANS Change Plan 2020, which provided a road map for modernizing the organizational structure of ANS.

Southern’s Tom Fanning to retire

December 18, 2023, 3:02PMNuclear News

Fanning

Tom Fanning, Southern Company board executive chairman and the man who helmed the firm during construction of the two new AP1000 reactors at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear plant, will retire December 31, Southern has announced. His board seat will be filled by Chris Womack, who replaced Fanning as Southern’s president and chief executive officer earlier this year.

Elected by the Southern board in July 2010, Fanning became company president in August 2010 and assumed the additional responsibilities of chairman and CEO that December. During his more than 43 years with Southern, Fanning held executive roles across various business disciplines, including finance, strategy, international business development, and technology. As president, chairman, and CEO of Southern, he received numerous accolades, including being named one of the most influential leaders in the energy industry in the past 25 years.

ANS awarded Fanning a Presidential Citation at this year’s Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Ind.

Meet the 2024 candidates for ANS vice president/president-elect and the Board of Directors

November 3, 2023, 1:55PMNuclear News

Candidates have been nominated for the 2024 American Nuclear Society national election. Terms will begin in June 2024, following the Annual Meeting. The six national positions open are vice president/president-elect and five seats on the Board of Directors—four U.S. members at-large and one Young Member. Ballots will be sent electronically on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, and must be submitted by 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

Safford named NRC’s commission secretary

November 2, 2023, 9:30AMNuclear News

Safford

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced that Carrie M. Safford will be the new secretary of the commission, effective November 5. She is the fifth person in the 48-year history of the NRC to hold the position.

Safford has been serving as deputy director in the Division of Fuel Management, which has regulatory responsibility for nuclear fuel cycle activities in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

“Carrie has served in a variety of capacities and brings extensive legal and regulatory experience,” said NRC chair Christopher T. Hanson. “Her proven executive leadership and vast knowledge of the agency’s policies and procedures well positions her to keep the Commission’s business functioning smoothly.”

Remembering Bill Loeb, ANS charter member and WWII veteran

October 19, 2023, 7:10AMANS News

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.

ANS-sponsored WISE interns make connections in D.C.

October 17, 2023, 12:07PMANS News
ANS WISE interns Abbey Hageman (left) and Sarah Cole (right) are pictured in front of the Capitol Building with ANS WISE program coordinator Alan Levin.

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.

ANS congratulates Mehdi Sarram on 60 years of membership

October 4, 2023, 3:14PMANS News
ANS Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy presented a certificate commemorating Sarram’s 60 years as an ANS member.

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.

ANS names Winter Meeting award winners, six new Fellows

September 22, 2023, 11:42AMANS News

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.

Climate activist launches “Dear Greenpeace” campaign to support nuclear energy

August 30, 2023, 12:01PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Ia Aanstoot, an 18-year-old Swedish climate activist, is gaining a lot of online attention with her “Dear Greenpeace” campaign, asking the global environmental organization to drop its “old-fashioned and unscientific opposition to nuclear power, and join us in the fight against fossil fuels instead!”

As reported by the Guardian, Aanstoot’s stance is that “Greenpeace is stuck in the past fighting clean, carbon-free nuclear energy while the world is literally burning. We need to be using all the tools available to address climate change, and nuclear is one of them.”

NRC picks new general counsel

August 25, 2023, 12:07PMNuclear News

Clark

Brooke Poole Clark has been named general counsel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency announced yesterday. Clark has been serving as secretary of the NRC since April 2022. She will succeed Marian L. Zobler, who will be retiring this fall after 33 years of service. Clark’s appointment is effective October 15.

The job: In her new role, Clark will oversee the Office of the General Counsel, where she will direct matters of law and legal policy; provide legal opinions, advice, and assistance to the agency; monitor adjudicatory proceedings; provide legal interpretations; and represent and protect the interests of the NRC in legal matters.

Quote: “Brooke has 25 years of legal and leadership experience,” said NRC chair Christopher T. Hanson. “Her wealth of expertise on policy and regulatory issues from her experience in both the government and private sector makes her exceptionally qualified for this position. She will play an instrumental role in the challenges ahead.”

A conversation with Grace Stanke, Miss America 2023

August 24, 2023, 12:06PMNuclear NewsJames Conca

“I see nuclear energy as the obvious path forward, and it confuses me as to why everybody else doesn’t. That’s the primary goal with my Miss America policy platform of ‘clean energy, cleaner future.’”

Recently I sat down with Grace Stanke, the current Miss America and a student at the University of Wisconsin in nuclear engineering exploring subjects like nuclear fuel enrichment and reactor performance (as well as being a virtuoso violinist, for good measure).

This year she’s touring the country advocating for clean energy in a cleaner future and for America to reach net zero with the help of nuclear power, while correcting misconceptions and improving communication about nuclear science and encouraging young women to pursue STEM careers.

We talked just after she had finished visiting the Hanford Site while she was on her way to appear at Town Hall Seattle at the request of grassroots pronuclear group Friends of Fission Northwest. I was impressed with the depth of her knowledge and her ability to communicate difficult issues in a concise manner that didn’t require any deep background to understand. I mean, who knows the intricacies of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant? I was tempted to ask her to run for president.