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Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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.
Ronald Stinson was the 33rd president of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). He joined the Society in 1962 at the same time joining the Operations and Power Division. He was an ANS Fellow, the highest grade of membership of the Society.
Born on April 30, 1931, and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, he graduated from Texas A&M in 1953 with a B.S. in range management before joining the Army. He and his wife moved to Darmstadt, Germany, where he was stationed. He applied for early release from the service, but was denied because his nuclear training and knowledge were in demand.
After his army commitment was met, he returned to Texas A&M, just as they were just introducing a nuclear program. He earned an M.S. in nuclear engineering in 1961, becoming one of the first two graduates to hold such a degree.
Stinson moved to Hanford, Washington landing a position working on the big eight reactors of the Hanford Project, which was run by General Electric (G.E.). Eventually he was transferred to the Vallecitos Lab in the San Francisco East Bay area as manager of nuclear safety. While at Vallecitos he spent much of his time occupied with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Later he took a promotion as project engineer of Dresden 2 & 3 and Quad Cities Nuclear Plants, and he was later recruited by Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in Herald, California to staff and build the Rancho Seco Nuclear Plant.
He left SMUD and became the director of projects at General Atomic (G.A.), but shortly after G.A. pulled out of the nuclear industry completely. Stinson and three of his industry colleagues formed a successful consulting business, Manage Analysis Company.
Ronald Calvin Stinson, Jr. passed away on June 27, 2019.
Read Nuclear News from July 1987 for more on Ronald.
Last modified January 20, 2021, 6:39am CST
