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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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
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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.
International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management 2022 Speaker
Dr. Erika Holt is an expert in radioactive waste management and holds a PhD (2001) in Civil Engineering. Erika is currently the co-coordinator of the project “PREDIS: Pre-disposal management of radioactive waste” at VTT, with a focus on the stakeholder engagement issues. She has managed a portfolio of VTT’s jointly-funded (public) projects related to the Finnish and international nuclear sector (~250 VTT persons). She has been on the Finnish national governmental committee for the Nuclear Energy strategy (Vision2020, 2014) and served as an evaluator of European Commission research and development proposals.
Erika holds a Doctoral Degree from the University of Washington (Seattle, USA, 2001) in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with an emphasis on concrete material durability. Her VTT research areas are addressing utilization of sustainable materials and service life approaches to material performance. She has conducted R&D and technical support on radioactive waste repository issues for 18 years, for both Finland and international clients. Most recently, her expertise projects have focused on initial state performance of engineered barrier materials, construction, designs and safety for high level nuclear waste repositories, including being a project manager for Posiva Oy. She has earlier worked at Golder Associates. She has over 100 scientific articles and numerous public speaking engagements.
Contact information:
erika.holt@vtt.fi, +358 40 593 1986
https://www.vttresearch.com/nuclear
Last modified October 28, 2022, 6:26am MST
