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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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A series of firsts delivers new Plant Vogtle units
Southern Nuclear was first when no one wanted to be.
The nuclear subsidiary of the century-old utility Southern Company, based in Atlanta, Ga., joined a pack of nuclear companies in the early 2000s—during what was then dubbed a “nuclear renaissance”—bullish on plans for new large nuclear facilities and adding thousands of new carbon-free megawatts to the grid.
In 2008, Southern Nuclear applied for a combined construction and operating license (COL), positioning the company to receive the first such license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2012. Also in 2008, Southern became the first U.S. company to sign an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a Generation III+ reactor. Southern chose Westinghouse’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor, which was certified by the NRC in December 2011.
Fast forward a dozen years—which saw dozens of setbacks and hundreds of successes—and Southern Nuclear and its stakeholders celebrated the completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4: the first new commercial nuclear power construction project completed in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
Dr. Chauncey Starr was the 4th president of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and was a charter member. He also a recipient of the ANS awards: Walter H. Zinn Award in 1979 and the Henry D. Smyth Award in 1983. He was a Fellow of ANS.
Dr. Chauncey Starr was born on April 14, 1912. His first job after completing his doctorate was in 1935 at Harvard University as a research associate in the laboratory, where he worked on the thermal transport properties of metals at high pressure. From Harvard, Chauncey went on to a similar postgraduate position at the MIT Magnet Laboratory, where he worked on cryogenics and magnetic measurements.
In 1942, while at the Bureau of Ships heading a group of engineers working on electronic detection of mines, he was invited to join Ernest Lawrence’s staff at the University of California Radiation Laboratory. Dr. Starr was subsequently transferred to Oak Ridge to serve as Lawrence’s liaison and directed a group of several hundred engineers that made crucial improvements to the yields of the beta calutrons; by the spring of 1945 Oak Ridge had produced enough 235U to arm the Little Boy weapon used against Hiroshima.
After the war, Dr. Starr transferred to Clinton Laboratories at Oak Ridge to participate in the nuclear power reactor design efforts led by Eugene Wigner and Alvin Weinberg. In 1946 he joined North American Aviation, and in 1955 he formed and became president of a new division, Atomics International, to pursue commercialization of the generation of electricity from nuclear power. In collaboration with Walter Zinn at Argonne National Laboratory and the first president of ANS, Chauncey explored the peaceful application of atomic energy to the generation of electricity. In 1966 he left Atomics International to become dean of engineering at UCLA; six years later he founded the Electric Power Research Institute. Chauncey also made substantial contributions to the discipline of risk analysis while at UCLA and established an environmental division at EPRI.
For his accomplishments, Dr. Starr received the American Physical Society’s 2000 George E. Pake Prize and numerous other awards and recognition, including honorary degrees, membership in national and international academies, medals from heads of state, and fellow status in professional societies.
Dr. Starr earned an electrical engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1932 and a Ph.D. in physics in 1935.
Dr. Chauncey Starr passed away on April 17, 2007.
Last modified November 24, 2020, 10:28am CST
