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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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U.S. nuclear supply chain: Ready for liftoff
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
This month, September 8–11, the American Nuclear Society is teaming up with the Nuclear Energy Institute to host our first-ever Nuclear Energy Conference and Expo—NECX for short—in Atlanta. This new meeting combines ANS’s Utility Working Conference and NEI’s Nuclear Energy Assembly to form what NEI CEO Maria Korsnick and I hope will be the premier nuclear industry gathering in America.
We did this because after more than four decades of relative stagnation, the U.S. nuclear supply chain is finally entering a new era of dynamic growth. This resurgence is being driven by several powerful and increasingly durable forces: the explosive demand for electricity from artificial intelligence and data centers, an unprecedented wave of public and private acceptance of—and investment in—advanced nuclear technologies, and a strong market signal for reliable, on-demand power. Add the recent Trump administration executive orders on nuclear into the mix, and you have all the makings of an accelerant-rich business environment primed for rapid expansion.
Abdul R. Dulloo, Frank H. Ruddy, Thomas V. Congedo, John G. Seidel, Robert J. Gehrke
Nuclear Technology | Volume 123 | Number 1 | July 1998 | Pages 103-112
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2883
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Detection of Hg, Cd, and Pb within concrete matrices located in 8-gal drums was successfully demonstrated using a pulsed gamma neutron activation analysis system. Real-time assays of 600 s led to the detection of these metals at concentration levels ranging, in parts per million (ppm) by weight, from 487 to 19 820 for Hg, 485 to 8181 for Cd, and 9927 to 19 950 for Pb. The measurements of Hg and Cd relied on the observation of thermal neutron-induced prompt gamma rays, whereas the Pb measurements relied on the observation of decay gamma rays from 207mPb, a product of fast neutron-induced reactions in Pb. The projected lower limits of detection of the current system for a 600-s run are 15, 170, and 8600 ppm for Cd, Hg, and Pb, respectively. Up to a one-order magnitude of improvement in sensitivity is anticipated through the enhancement of the system's detector and neutron source. The results obtained confirm the potential of prompt and decay gamma neutron activation analysis as an effective method for the nondestructive analysis of hazardous metals in mixed-waste drums.
