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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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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Feb 2025
Jul 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
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.
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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