Enabling Space Missions with Nuclear Energy

NETS 2022 Registrants:

We hope you all enjoyed the Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS 2022) conference held May 8-12 in Cleveland, OH. It was an amazing week with stimulating speakers and lively topics on space nuclear systems. The city of Cleveland contributed with outstanding weather and a welcoming downtown venue. The conference was capped with a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour at NASA Glenn Research Center. This year’s conference set records for the number of registrants (375) and the number of technical papers (146). We are looking forward to another successful meeting next year in Idaho Falls, with DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory serving as the host organization. Watch for notices coming soon from ANS about NETS 2023 and mark your calendar for May 7-12, 2023!

The Technical Program Chairs, Lee Mason and Michael Smith, and the Publications Chair, Austen Fradeneck, would like to announce the following best paper selections for NETS 2022:


Best Radioisotope Power Paper

GPHS Heritage-Like SiGe Unicouple Development with SiGe and SiMo Materials Prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering by Rama Venkatasubramanian, Jonathan Pierce, Richard Ung, Jake Ballard, Priestly Shuler (Johns Hopkins APL), Joseph Poon, Mousumi Mitra (Univ. Virginia, Charlottesville), Scott Misture (Alfred Univ.), Tim Erickson, and Paul Ostdiek (Johns Hopkins APL)


Best Fission Power Paper

Neutronics and Heat-Transfer Analysis of a Compact kW-Class Moderated Spectrum Reactor by Vedant K. Mehta, Aditya P. Shivprasad, and Dasari V. Rao (LANL)


Best Fission Propulsion Paper

Modeling of System Response to Faulted Operation of Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engine by Jordan D. Rader (ORNL)


Best Student Paper

One-Dimensional Steady-State Thermal Model of CNTP Reactor by Jacob Keese and D. Keith Hollingsworth (Univ. Alabama, Huntsville)


Among the many great papers presented at NETS, these stood out for their quality, content, and impact. Each of the first authors will receive a certificate and plaque to recognize their contribution to NETS 2022. The authors will also be invited to submit an expanded version of their paper to the ANS Journal, Nuclear Technology.


Thanks again for your attendance at NETS. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s event!


The NETS 2022 Organizing Committee

General Chair
Bryan K. Smith
Director of Facilities, Test, and Manufacturing
Glenn Research Center

Enhance your visibility at NETS 2022 by becoming a sponsor or exhibitor.

All exhibitors will also be acknowledged on the ANS website, at the Opening Plenary and on signage displayed throughout the meeting. Exhibitors also have the option to have their name placed on promotional items.

More Information


A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors


A Special Thank You to Our Exhibitors


Technical Sessions


cleveland photo


COVID-19 guidelines for travel to the U.S.

  • Symptoms
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  • what to do if sick
  • and more.