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2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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.
VIEW RECIPIENTSSUBMIT NOMINATION
Nomination Deadline
May 1
Presented at the
International Conference on IFSA
odd years only
Monetary Award
$2,000
The Edward Teller Award recognizes pioneering research and leadership in the use of high-intensity drivers (e.g. lasers, ion-particle beams, pulsed power) to produce unique high-density matter for scientific research and to conduct investigations of inertial fusion. The award is normally presented at the International Conference on Inertial Fusion Science Applications (IFSA) during odd-numbered years. The award may be presented at an alternate location determined by the Fusion Energy Division in consultation with the ANS Honors and Awards Committee.
Nominees may be from any nation, need not be an ANS member, and must be living at the time of award selection. Nominations are open to everyone who has made significant advances in capabilities (e.g. drivers, diagnostics, targets, and numerical modeling) as well as to those who have advanced the physics of inertial fusion and applications.
The award consists of an engraved silver medal and a $2,000 monetary award. A maximum of two awards per cycle will be made. If a qualified candidate is not identified during a ballot period, the selection committee may recommend that the award not be made in that year.
The Teller Award was established in 1991 by the conference series formerly called Laser Interaction and Related Plasma Phenomenon (LIRPP). This award was officially recognized by the Fusion Energy Division in June 1999 as a Division-Administered award. It is presently fully-funded by the Fusion Energy Division of ANS.
Nominations are solicited through a bi-annual announcement in ANS publications and independent efforts of the Fusion Energy Division and through the channels of the IFSA conference.
Nominations must include the completed nomination form accompanied by the following supporting documents:
View Award
