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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
Dr. Harry Lawroski joined the American Nuclear Society (ANS) in 1958. Over a 10 year span he served on the ANS Board of Directors, as treasurer, vice president and president. He served on both the Operations & Power and Fuel Cycle & Waste Management Divisions and was also a member of the ANS Idaho Local Section. Dr. Lawroski was an ANS Fellow.
While at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Idaho, he made the transition from petroleum refining to nuclear energy by experiences on Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I), Borax V and Zero Power Reactor (ZPR) III before assisting in the assembling of the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) Reactor. Dr. Lawroski became a supervisor at TREAT, was the technical manager for the design and construction of the ZPR, and the associate director for operations at the EBR II Facility.
After leaving ANL, Dr. Lawroski joined Nuclear Services Corporation and became general manager (GM) of both the Environmental as well as the Quality Assurance Divisions. He left to become the GM of the Technology Division and the Production Division at the chemical processing plant in Idaho, which was operated by Allied Chemical.
He became part of the advisory committee for the stabilization of the reactor involved in the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident. He analyzed the information and prepared the “Report on Transport of Radioactivity from the TMI2 to the Environs” for the President’s Commission on the Accident at TMI.
Dr. Lawroski spent 17 years consulting for utility nuclear facilities on operations, water processing, waste management, and reactor safety committees. He also consulted for the Edison Electric Institute, the Electric Power Research Institute and the U.S. Army and other energy clients.
As a member of ANS, Dr. Lawroski participated in the 1978 visit to the People’s Republic of China. He gave lectures on reactor operations and nuclear fuel reprocessing. In 1980, he led an ANS team of 30 nuclear leaders to China and signed the ANS-PRC Nuclear Society Agreement for Cooperation. At the June 1981 ANS meeting, Dr. Lawroski participated on ABC’s NIGHTLINE for the discussion of the destruction of the Iraq Osirak reactor by the Israel Air Force.
Dr. Lawroski received his BS, MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. He holds two patents in petroleum refining which are held by Standard Oil of New Jersey.
After his retirement in 1996, Dr. Lawroski volunteered in a number of community organizations and received several awards for his efforts.
Dr. Lawroski passed away on January 28, 2023.
Read Nuclear News from July 1980 for more on Harry Lawroski.
