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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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A series of firsts delivers new Plant Vogtle units
Southern Nuclear was first when no one wanted to be.
The nuclear subsidiary of the century-old utility Southern Company, based in Atlanta, Ga., joined a pack of nuclear companies in the early 2000s—during what was then dubbed a “nuclear renaissance”—bullish on plans for new large nuclear facilities and adding thousands of new carbon-free megawatts to the grid.
In 2008, Southern Nuclear applied for a combined construction and operating license (COL), positioning the company to receive the first such license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2012. Also in 2008, Southern became the first U.S. company to sign an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a Generation III+ reactor. Southern chose Westinghouse’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor, which was certified by the NRC in December 2011.
Fast forward a dozen years—which saw dozens of setbacks and hundreds of successes—and Southern Nuclear and its stakeholders celebrated the completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4: the first new commercial nuclear power construction project completed in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
C. Stansbury, M. Smith, P. Ferroni, A. Harkness, F. Franceschini (Westinghouse)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 998-1006
Development of the Westinghouse lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) has continued; focused on quantifying drivers of cost and using that information to select new, innovative design characteristics to optimize economics while maintaining and harnessing the LFR’s promise of exceptional safety performance. An intelligent method of concept selection has been employed across a wide variety of systems and components to deliver the lowest total cost to operators. Multiple core designs and fuel management schemes are considered possible within the design, including very high burnup fuel to reduce fuel cycle cost and enhance proliferation resistance. Notably, Westinghouse is considering supercritical CO2 as advanced balance of plant technology, driving both economics and efficiency. When coupled to an innovative thermal energy storage system, the LFR will be capable of supporting the adoption of non-dispatchable grid resources by providing economical and scalable energy storage. By utilizing lead to achieve a plant economic objective, rather than a predetermined fuel mission, Westinghouse believes they can effectively deliver the promise of Generation IV nuclear technologies; low-cost, intrinsically safe, sustainable, and proliferation resistant, by combining the benefits of LFR technology with customer needs-driven innovation and the company's experience, matured over decades of nuclear power plant design, development, and commercialization.
