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Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
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Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
VIEW RECIPIENTSSUBMIT NOMINATION
Nomination Deadline
August 1
Presented at the
Winter Conference
Monetary Award*
$2,000
The Alvin M. Weinberg Medal recognizes an individual for outstanding international technical and policy leadership in nuclear science and technology, and for consistently and effectively illuminating the human dimensions of the nuclear enterprise. The awardee must have demonstrated such achievements over a sustained period of several years.
Nominees may be from any nation, but they must not be deceased at the time the awardee is selected. Nominees need not be an ANS member.
The award consists of an engraved medal and a monetary award of $2,000*. It is to be made no more frequently than once per year and is conferred normally during the ANS Winter Conference.
*In lieu of a cash award, recipients can opt for travel reimbursement up to the award amount.
The award was established in 1995 to honor Dr. Alvin M. Weinberg, one of the founders of the American Nuclear Society, and the 5th president of the Society, to provide international recognition for contributions to the understanding of the social implications of nuclear technology. It was funded in part by a $20,000 contribution from the Vietnamese-American Scholarship Fund and PAI Corporation on the occasion of Dr. Weinberg’s 80th birthday.
Nominations must include the completed nomination form accompanied by the following supporting documents:
View Award