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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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!
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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.
2020 ANS Virtual Winter Meeting Plenary Special Session Speaker
Texas A&M University
Dr. Shaheen A. Dewji is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at and Faculty Fellow of the Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI). Dr. Dewji completed her Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. She received her Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
In her prior role at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dewji was Radiological Scientist in the Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge, where her work included assessment of patient release criteria for nuclear medicine patients, as well as development of dose coefficients associated with the external exposure and internal uptake of radionuclides from contaminated environmental media and emergency response. Prior, Dr. Dewji was a Nondestructive Assay Systems Engineer with the Safeguards and Security Technology Group at ORNL, where she employed gamma-ray methods for nuclear material control and accountancy for front and back ends of the fuel cycle.
Having established the Radiological Engineering, Detection, and Dosimetry (RED2) Laboratory at Texas A&M University, Dewji’s research group has focused on harnessing both computational capabilities in Monte Carlo and hybrid deterministic radiation transport modeling, in addition to gamma ray spectroscopy measurements, for applications in radiation protection, dosimetry, health physics, and nuclear materials accounting. Research activities in computational dosimetry investigates the development of dose coefficients using age/sex-specific anthropomorphic computational phantoms and radionuclide biokinetic models for occupational nuclear workers, members of the public, nuclear medicine, space, defense, and emergency response. Research activities in radiation detection employ validation and verification of gamma-ray spectroscopic detector responses for contaminated environmental media; field triage assessment of radiation uptake during nuclear, radiological, and fission product release events; and nuclear materials control, accounting, and safeguards of special nuclear material.
Dewji has been an active member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) since 2005 where she has served in various roles, including the Executive Committee, Officer, and Chair, for both the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division. Currently, Dewji is the General Chair of the Joint 14th International Conference on Radiation Shielding/2021 ANS Radiation Protection and Shielding Division Topical and is a member of the ANS President’s ad-hoc committee on the Low Dose Grand Challenge. Dewji is also an active member of the Health Physics Society (HPS), where she has served as Board Liaison of the Homeland Security Section, member of the Government Relations Committee, HPS President’s Special Task Force on Radiation Protection Needs, representative on the ISO/TC 85/SC2, and recipient of the esteemed 2018 Health Physics Society Elda E. Anderson Award.
Last modified October 15, 2020, 2:50pm EDT
