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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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
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.
2020 ANS Virtual Winter Meeting Plenary Session Speaker
Tara Neider is Senior Vice President of Program Development and Lab Facilities at TerraPower including the TWR program. Areas of responsibility include fuel design and development, licensing, project management, engineering processes and the TerraPower Laboratory.
Neider comes to TerraPower with more than 30 years of experience in nuclear engineering, project management and licensing. Previously, she worked as senior vice president of Back End Business Development and Sales at AREVA, Inc. Neider had responsibility for directing back end customer relations for AREVA in North America, developing an overall fuel and decommissioning strategy for the company, and pushing sales revenues for AREVA and AREVA subsidiary Transnuclear, Inc. to double their sales targets.
For four years prior, Neider served as president and CEO of AREVA Federal Services. She established the overall strategy for AREVA Federal Services. In this role, she held board positions on major Department of Energy project teams, including the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility, Hanford Tank Operations, Yucca Mountain, Savannah River Remediation and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
Neider spent much of her early career with Transnuclear, Inc. She began as a project manager and design engineer, and rose to serve as president and CEO of the company.
Neider holds a Bachelor of Science and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also earned an MBA in finance and international business from New York University.
Last modified October 19, 2020, 10:28am EDT
