ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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. Walter Loewenstein was the 35th president of the American Nuclear Society. He became a member of the Society in 1955, at that time joining the Mathematics & Computation and Nuclear Installations Safety Divisions. He remained with these Divisions until his death. In 1973, he became a Fellow of ANS. In 1985, he was elected to the Board of Directors, assigned to the Finance Committee.
Dr. Loewenstein was born in on December 23, 1926 in Gunsengen, Hesse, Germany. His family emigrated to the U.S. when he was a child in 1938, originally settling in Tacoma, Washington.
In 1945 at the age of 19, he was drafted to the U.S. Navy while he had been attending the College of Puget Sound. After bootcamp, he was sent to Chicago for electronics training and was stationed at Navy Pier. He was released from the Navy about one year after the end of the war and returned to college to pursue his education. He graduated in 1949 from University of Puget Sound with a degree in mathematics and physics. He earned his Ph.D. from Ohio State in 1954 in chemical physics.
Fascinated with the growth in nuclear technology at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), he became a part of their fast reactor physics team. He specifically was part of the Fast Critical Facility, a.k.a Zero Power Reactor III (ZPRIII). He traveled extensively in the 1950s between Chicago and Idaho working on the project.
In 1958, Loewenstein’s work at ANL switched from the general fast reactor to the core design for the small Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II). The team designed and produced a reactor without plans, but solely relied on their ingenuity and knowledge. Eventually he was moved to Scotland to assist with their reactors in 1959, but was brought back to ANL in the U.S. in 1961. He remained with ANL working on the EBR-II until his departure in 1973.
After leaving ANL, he began working with Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). An opportunity had presented itself to Dr. Loewenstein, and he was appointed the director of Safety Technology Department with the Nuclear Power Division. He was promoted ten years later to the deputy director of the Nuclear Powers Division where he remained until his retirement.
Dr. Loewenstein served on the Board of Directors for several international cooperative research projects. He is the author of over 40 publications and holds three nuclear reactor patents. In 1978, Dr. Loewenstein was one of the participants in the “Risk Assessment Review Group Report” to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dr. Walter Loewenstein passed away on November 26, 2018.
Read Nuclear News from July 1989 for more on Walter.
Last modified January 20, 2021, 6:41am CST
