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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting (NCSD 2022)
Plenary and Panel Session
Monday, June 13, 2022|1:00–2:45PM PDT|Laguna A
The NCSD 2022 conference kicks off with an opening plenary designed to inspire and inform the past, current, and future generations of nuclear criticality safety professionals. Catherine Percher, the NCSD 2022 General Chair, will welcome everyone to the conference and provide an overview of what to expect during the week. The current ANS NCSD Chair, David Erickson, will provide an overview of the division, how it fits within the larger ANS, its focus on the ANS-8 series of standards, and the ways of getting involved. Angela Chambers, the Program Manager for the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) and the largest funder of NCS-related research in the US, will give an overview of the NCSP and the many products and services the program provides to the field of NCS. Julie-Fiona Martin, the secretariate for the Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety, will describe international NCS collaboration efforts that are supported by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Finally, the two winners of our speech contest will provide a prospective of working in the NCS field from two ends of the experience spectrum: Liam Payne, from Nuclear Waste Services in the UK, will share his experiences as a relative newcomer to NCS, and Larry Wetzel, from BWX Technologies, will share his experiences as a senior nuclear criticality safety engineer with many years of involvement in the field and the ANS NCSD.
The NCSD Opening Plenary will conclude with five Lightning Talks. The papers that accompany the Lighting Talks can be found in Monday's Technical Sessions program.
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