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Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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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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
Neil Wilmshurst is Senior Vice President of Energy System Resources for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He has overall management and technical responsibility for the research and development activities conducted by EPRI with its global membership related to all generation sources and storage.
Wilmshurst joined EPRI in 2003 as a Senior Project Manager in the Plant Support Engineering program. In 2008, he became Director of the Plant Technology department, and was appointed as Vice President, Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer in 2010, where, until 2020, he led the sector through the impactful years following the Fukushima accident. During this time the nuclear sector global membership expanded to encompass more that 80% of the world’s commercial nuclear fleet.
Before joining EPRI, Wilmshurst worked in a variety of nuclear utility engineering and maintenance roles with AmerGen and Exelon at Three Mile Island Unit 1, and British Energy at Sizewell B. Prior to joining the civil nuclear program Wilmshurst served for 13 years in the Royal Navy as a Nuclear Submarine Engineer Officer.
Wilmshurst received a bachelor’s degree in electrical, mechanical and control engineering from the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon, a Post Graduate Diploma in nuclear reactor technology from the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and a master’s degree in defense administration from Cranfield Institute of Technology, Shrivenham. He was also certified as a Naval Nuclear Plant Operator.
Last modified October 22, 2020, 11:10am EDT
