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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2026
Nuclear Technology
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Getting back to yes: A local perspective on decommissioning, restart, and responsibility
For 45 years, Duane Arnold Energy Center operated in Linn County, Ia., near the town of Palo and just northwest of Cedar Rapids. The facility, owned by NextEra Energy, was the only nuclear power plant in the state.
In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.
Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.
The American Nuclear Society provides statements which reflect the Society's perspectives on issues of public interest that involve various aspects of nuclear science and technology. Position statements are prepared by key members whose relevant experience or publications inform the documents and then the documents are reviewed by ANS committees and divisions. The final position statements are approved by the Board of Directors.
Categories
Advanced Reactors — ANS-35-2026
Read the Statement
Price-Anderson Act — ANS-54-2024
Fusion Energy — ANS-12-2024
Small Modular Reactors — ANS-25-2020
Nuclear Technology's Critical Role In The World's Future Energy Supply — ANS-43-2019
More:Background Information
U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Plants: A Vital National Asset — ANS-26-2017
Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors — ANS-13-2025
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission — ANS-77-2022
Safety of Nuclear Power — ANS-51-2021
Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Regulations for Nuclear Power Plants — ANS-46-2017
Management of Surplus U.S. Nuclear Material — ANS-47-2026
Safeguards and Security for Advanced Reactors Using HALEU — ANS-84-2023
Clearance of Solid Materials from Nuclear Facilities — ANS-50-2023
Management of the Nation's Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste — ANS-3-2023
The Use of Thorium as Nuclear Fuel — ANS-78-2020
Licensing of Yucca Mountain as a Geological Repository for Radioactive Wastes — ANS-80-2017
Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive Waste — ANS-11-2017
Nonproliferation — ANS-55-2023
Assuring U.S. Global Nuclear Leadership — ANS-83-2021
Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion Systems — ANS-40-2024
The Use of Highly Enriched Uranium for the Production of Medical Isotopes — ANS-72-2022
Domestic Production of Stable and Radioactive Isotopes — ANS-30-2022
Nuclear Energy's Role in Climate Change Policy — ANS-44-2022
More:Platform
Health Effects of Low-Level Radiation — ANS-41-2020
Education, Training, and Workforce Development for Nuclear Science, Engineering, and Technology — ANS-85-2024
Diversity in the Nuclear Profession — ANS-66-2018
Nuclear Engineering Licensure — ANS-61-2016
