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
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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
Aug 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2024
Latest News
Nuclear new build procurement considerations
It may seem counterintuitive, but the best time to enhance the ability to support operations and maintenance for a new plant is before construction starts. This is one of many lessons learned by the currently operating nuclear fleet. As construction and startup of many nuclear facilities was completed, it quickly became evident that the ability to efficiently support operations and maintenance was limited. Most of the information necessary to establish and manage procurement of spare and replacement items, maintenance, and configuration of the facilities was unavailable and had to be gathered on a case-by-case, “on-demand” basis. Absence of necessary information and the associated challenges resulted in the need for staff augmentation and multiyear-long projects to develop equipment bills of material and maintenance programs and to perform technical evaluations for the huge quantities of spare and replacement items being requested.
Educator Training
August 24, 2023|5:00–6:00PM (6:00–7:00PM EDT)
Available to All Users
A carbon-free energy future will depend on using all clean energy sources available. Students recognize the benefits of nuclear, solar, wind, and other clean sources, but not the challenge of integrating them to produce reliable and affordable electricity. In this installment of our Educator Training series, Shannon Bragg-Sitton, Director of the Integrated Energy and Storage Systems Division at Idaho National Laboratory, presented Department of Energy research about optimizing energy sources through integrated systems. A Q&A session followed her presentation.
Presenter Shannon Bragg-SittonDirectorIntegrated Energy & Storage Systems DivisionEnergy & Environment Science & Technology DirectorateIdaho National Laboratory
ModeratorEric LoewenChief Engineer and ManagerOffice of the Chief EngineerGE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Biographies
Shannon Bragg-Sitton
Shannon Bragg-Sitton is an internationally recognized pioneer in the innovative application of nuclear energy alongside other clean energy generators, seeking to maximize energy utilization, generator profitability, and grid reliability and resilience through systems integration.
Shannon is the director of the Integrated Energy & Storage Systems Division in the Energy & Environment Science & Technology Directorate at Idaho National Laboratory, which includes Power and Energy Systems, Energy Storage and Electric Transportation, and Hydrogen and Electrochemistry departments. She also serves as the National Technical Director for the DOE (Department of Energy) Office of Nuclear Energy Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program (http://ies.inl.gov), which has developed novel modeling and simulation tools for technical and economic assessment of multi-input, multi-output IES and supporting experimental capabilities. Dr. Bragg-Sitton is also the Chair of the recently established Gen-IV International Forum (GIF) interim Task Force (iTF) on Non-electric Applications of Nuclear Heat (NEaNH)
Eric Loewen
Eric Loewen is the Chief Engineer and Manager of the Chief Engineer’s Office at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, where he is responsible for leading the office in supporting new product and technology development, managing technical and enterprise risk, and mentoring and developing technical talent.
Eric graduated from Western State College with a B.A. in chemistry and mathematics, earned a commission in the U.S. Navy, and subsequently attended Navy Nuclear Power School and the Nuclear Prototype. After his active Navy service, he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Eric worked in private industry prior to joining Idaho National Laboratory (INL) as a systems integration manager and interim department manager. Currently, he is chief consulting engineer at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) in Wilmington, N.C., where he leads GEH activities to deploy the sodium-cooled advanced reactor PRISM that can recycle used nuclear fuel from the current fleet of water-cooled reactors, as well as fission and eliminate weapons-grade material.
His U.S. Navy leadership roles included: Naval Prototype Nuclear Reactor School Instructor; B-2 Division Officer, Nuclear Quality Officer, Engineering Officer of the Watch, Surface Warfare Officer of the Deck aboard the USS LONG BEACH (CGN-9); and Commanding Officer of two Naval Reserve maintenance support units.
During his career, Eric received many honors and awards including Molten Metal, Inc. Technology Star Award (1995); ANS Public Communication Award (2003); DOE Outstanding Mentor Award (2003); GEH CEO Award (2012); and GE Regulatory Excellence Award (2010). He is also a Kissimmee Iron Man triathlete.
This webinar is presented by ANS in partnership with the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy.