Countdown to the ANS Winter Meeting
Excitement is building for the 2021 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo, which will be ANS’s first-ever completely hybrid event. The Winter Meeting will take place at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., from November 30 to December 3, which is later than normal because the original venue for the Winter Meeting closed in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ANS leadership moved quickly to secure another D.C. venue to host the first in-person national meeting since 2019. “ANS will remain biased toward the return of physical meetings,” said Craig Piercy, ANS executive director and CEO. “At the same time, we recognize that ‘normal’ is still a way off.” Therefore, ANS is being as flexible as possible to allow for maximum professional exchange at the upcoming Winter Meeting.
Don’t miss a session: The flexibility of the ANS meeting platform means that registrants can attend, virtually or in person, any of the 100+ technical and panel sessions. Every session will be simultaneously streamed via the ANS Winter Meeting platform and held in person at the Washington Hilton meeting space. That means that every session will also be recorded and available for all meeting registrants to go back and watch any sessions at any time.
The Opening Plenary: The opening plenary is a can't miss event and will focus on the growing appreciation of the role that clean, reliable, always-on nuclear energy must play in America’s clean energy future. The event will feature an appearance by Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) and recorded remarks from Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.V.). The other speakers planned for the event are Katy Huff, acting assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy; Monica Regalbuto, of Idaho National Laboratory; and John Kotek, of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Other can't miss events: There are many other sessions worth checking out, including a panel session, “CEO Perspectives on Innovation in Nuclear Licensing: A Game-Changer to Tackle Climate Change” which will be moderated by Judi Greenwald, executive director of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, and will include panelists from Terrestrial Energy, Kairos Power, Oklo Inc., and X-energy. There are also panel sessions on Friday, “The U.S. Department of Energy’s Forward-Looking Nuclear Waste Management Activities” featuring Kathryn Huff, and “Pre-Disposal Management: An Essential and Strategic Aspect in Responsible and Sustainable Policy for Nuclear Energy” which will present key elements of holistic pre-disposal management to optimize the sustainability performance of nuclear energy. Check the meeting website frequently for updates between now and the start of the meeting on November 30.
COVID protocols in place: ANS values the health and safety of its members and will continue to follow all CDC, state, city, and hotel safety requirements in order to provide a safe environment at the Winter Meeting. Washington, D.C., just announced that the indoor mask mandate will be lifted. However, as an added measure of safety, ANS has decided to require all attendees to provide either proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of arrival at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
ANS is using a service called EventScan to collect attendee vaccination information. The server used by EventScan for uploading vaccination information is the same type of server used by hospitals, surgical centers, and emergency clinics; the information is stored on an encrypted HIPAA server. The data is kept encrypted on the server until the conclusion of the meeting.
Email askanything@ans.org with questions or concerns about the upcoming meeting. We look forward to seeing you (both in-person and virtually) at the Winter Meeting.
