ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Will policies outlined in Project 2025 affect nuclear much?
James Conca
I think so. The near future for nuclear depends on both the cabinet picks for Energy, Defense, Interior, and Commerce, and how well the new secretaries stick to the Project 2025 plan, the Heritage Foundation’s conservative blueprint for the future.
Those who want to read the entire 900-page Mandate for Leadership can find it easily online. The section relating to nuclear power and waste begins on page 363: “Department of Energy and Related Commissions,” by Bernard L. McNamee. The nuclear weapons–related portions are scattered throughout.
It is obvious from the beginning of the chapter that McNamee doesn’t really understand the Department of Energy. He can be forgiven, since most people don’t. For the several months following their appointments, new energy secretaries generally fail to understand what the DOE does—except for real nuclear folks like Ernest Moniz, who held the position from 2013 to 2017. Most think that the DOE is all about energy, when really it is mostly about weapons and waste.
2020 ANS Virtual Winter Meeting Plenary Session Speaker
Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), guides 5,400 staff in solving scientific and technical challenges for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors, managing an annual budget of $2 billion. Following a postdoctoral appointment, Thomas joined ORNL's Metals and Ceramics Division in 1989. He established and led the Materials Modeling and Simulation Group and became director of the Computer Science and Mathematics Division in 1998, Deputy Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for High Performance Computing in 2000, and ALD for Computing and Computational Sciences in 2001. He led the creation of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, fielding the world's fastest supercomputer, and led delivery of a petascale system for the National Science Foundation in 2008. Before becoming ORNL's director, he was Deputy for Science and Technology. Thomas holds a B.S. from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, India, an M.S. from the University of Mississippi, and a Ph.D. from Clarkson University. He holds two patents and has authored more than 100 publications. He co-chairs the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers established by the Council on Competitiveness. He is a Fellow of the American Welding Society, a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Last modified October 20, 2020, 3:28pm EDT