Nuclear 101 Certificate Course

About the Course

Are you a new professional in the nuclear industry? Are you an executive who needs to strengthen your nuclear background? Are you interested in knowing how your work is linked with nuclear energy and engineering?

This course is designed for you!

The Nuclear 101 course is your opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the essentials of nuclear energy and engineering from the field’s leading experts and instructors. The 5-day course provides 32 hours of hands-on learning, covering a broad range of nuclear science and technology topics.

Class sizes are limited to increase the student-to-teacher ratio and facilitate an interactive and engaging environment that will maximize your experience. Following the completion of the course, which includes a final exam, you will be awarded an ANS Nuclear 101 Course Certificate of Completion or Participation and 32 professional development hours.

Registration Fees

Registration is hosted in conjunction with the 2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo registration.

Spots are limited for an optimal learning experience. Don't wait to register! Previous courses have sold out due to high demand. All registrations must be paid in full by September 30.

Register Now

The 2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo cancellation policy is also applicable to Nuclear 101.

Course Schedule

Schedule is subject to change. Check back for more details coming soon.

Book Your Hotel

Reserve your room at the Washington Hilton by October 17 to receive the lowest rates.

About the Instructors

Steven Arndt
Steven is an internationally recognized expert in the field of nuclear engineering with experience in nuclear power plant simulation, severe accident analysis and nuclear power plant instrumentation and control. In his 40 years in the nuclear industry Arndt has worked as a researcher, educator, consultant, and regulator including extensive experience in Russia and Ukraine leading the United States support programs to the states of the former Soviet Union following the Chernobyl accident and as part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) response to the Fukushima accident. He currently serves as a Distinguished Scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where his research involves advance reactor design readiness. Previously he spent 31 years as a senior level scientist with the NRC, leading a number of key research efforts and providing authoritative advice to NRC management and staff in the areas of digital instrumentation and control, software reliability, emergency response, cyber security and numerous other technical areas.

Sunil Chirayath
Sunil is a Distinguished R&D Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Prior to joining ORNL in January 2024, he held positions from postdoctoral fellow to tenured full professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University during 2007-2024. He is a nuclear security and nonproliferation specialist with over 17 years of educational and research experience nuclear science and engineering. He has additional 16 years of work experience in India as a nuclear safety regulator. He has taught courses and conducted workshops on nuclear fuel cycles and nuclear safeguards, Monte Carlo radiation transport, nuclear nonproliferation and arms control, physical protection system design, and human reliability program. Chirayath received his PhD in Physics from University of Madras in 2005, MSc and BSc in Physics from University of Calicut in 1994 and 1989, respectively.

Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar
Dunzik-Gougar is Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Associate Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Idaho State University. Also at ISU, she is a licensed senior reactor operator for their AGN-201 reactor. She has a PhD in nuclear engineering and MS in environmental engineering from Penn State University and a BS in chemistry from Cedar Crest College. Her nuclear career spans ~25 years, during which she has performed research in various aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including waste form development, spent fuel pyroprocessing, spent TRISO particle fuel qualification for disposal, fuel and material development and characterization (pre- and post-irradiation), development of a waste minimization plan for a next generation nuclear reactor design, and fuel cycle modeling. Dunzik-Gougar’s research has led to national and international collaborations, including a year-long position with PBMR Ltd in South Africa and a consulting contract with EDF energy of France. She has served as consultant/ subject matter expert for subsequent projects coordinated by the European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Walid Metwally
Walid obtained his BSc and MSc in Nuclear Engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt, in 1992 and 1997. In 1998 he joined the Department of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University as a PhD student. He remained there until completing his doctorate. After completing his doctorate, he served as a Research Associate until 2003. Metwally also holds a Master of Science in Operations Research and a Masters degree in Business Administration.

Walid worked at the Atomic Energy Authority in Egypt, NC State University, United Arab Emirates University, and Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) in Wilmington, NC. In 2012, Walid joined the University of Sharjah, UAE, where he founded and chaired the Nuclear Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Programs and also served as the vice dean of the College of Engineering. He currently serves as the Lead for the Nuclear Criticality Safety Group in the Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

His expertise is concentrated in the fields of criticality analysis of nuclear fuel storage, radiation transport modeling, and radiation detection and measurement.

Mark Schanfein
Mark has over 40 years’ experience in nonproliferation and safeguards including a 20-year career at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the weapons program as a facility operator in the plutonium facility and a program manager for nonproliferation programs. He served as a technical expert on the ground in the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR performing security assessments and in the DPRK during the disablement activities resulting from the 6-Party Talks under the Bush administration. He has previously worked for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and oversight at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Mark has eight years of experience working at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, four years as a safeguards inspector and 4 years as the Unit Head for Unattended Monitoring Systems (UMS), responsible for the installation of all IAEA unattended autonomous systems in nuclear fuel cycle facilities worldwide. He supports multiple safeguards training programs. His current focus at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is on emerging technologies for applications in international safeguards with a current interest in digital twins, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Mark is currently the Immediate Past President for the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management.

Questions?

For more information about the Nuclear 101 course and other professional development programs, please contact Dan Goldberg, ANS Director of Programs.

Coming Next Year: Nuclear 101 Online Course

Stay tuned for the online version of Nuclear 101 launching in 2026. Sign up below to be notified for more course updates.