ANS Connecticut Section Speaker Meeting Announcement for October 23rd, 2014

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Development of a Zirconium Hydride Moderated Molten Salt Fueled Reactor

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Leslie Dewan, co-founder and Chief Scientist of Transatomic Power, who are developing a new, thermal-spectrum molten salt reactor concept that uses zirconium hydride as a moderator and LiF-(Actinide)F4 as fuel.  The designs builds on the work conducted in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1960s.  The new salt and moderator used in this design gives the reactor a twenty-fold power density increase as compared to the MSRE, and allows for the use of spent nuclear fuel or low-enriched uranium (1.8% U-235)  as fuel, while retaining the MSRE’s significant safety benefits, including full passive safety and atmospheric-pressure operation.  The higher power density, thermal neutron spectrum, and atmospheric pressure operation greatly reduce the cost of the plant, resulting in overnight capital costs on par with coal-fired power plants.

Ultimately, this design has the potential to consume the country’s existing stockpiles of spent nuclear fuel, while safely generating enormous amounts of cheap, carbon-free electricity.

Transatomic Power is  a nuclear reactor design company developing safe and environmentally-friendly power plants that run entirely on nuclear waste.

About the speaker:

Dr. Leslie Dewan graduated from MIT in 2013 with a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, with a research focus on computational nuclear materials.  She also holds S.B. degrees from MIT in mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering.  Before starting her Ph.D., she worked for a robotics company in Cambridge, MA, where she designed search-and-rescue robots and equipment for in-field identification of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons.  Leslie has been awarded a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship and an MIT Presidential Fellowship.  She was named a TIME Magazine “30 People Under 30 Changing the World” in December 2013, an MIT Technology Review “Innovator Under 35” in September 2013, and a Forbes “30 Under 30” in Energy in December 2012.

We will be meeting on the University of Hartford campus at 200 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, CT at 6PM in Gengras Student Union room 331 (Bldg 18 on the UofH_Map). Please also download and use this permit:  ANS Parking 102314.

Details are provided this flyer:  20141023 Speaker Meeting Announcement

Sorry!  We are sold out.  The room is full.

So please save this date on your calendars and RSVP with your affiliation and contact information by October 17th to Stephen Szarek at 860-731-6313 or szareksw@westinghouse.com.  Dinner is Family Style Catered from Concetta’s Italian Restaurant in Bloomfield, CT.

We hope to see you there!

Photos and Presentation from the April 9th, 2014 Speaker Event with Michael Quinn

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Dr. Michael D. Quinn, of WorkPlace Cornerstone Associates (WCA), presented “Transuranic Uptake at a Commercial Nuclear Power Station” to a group of 24 on April 9th, 2014.  This was a fascinating presentation about a little known significant event at the Bruce Nuclear Power Station in Canada.  Everyone in our industry can and should learn from this event that included many institutionalized errors.  An informative and very helpful Q&A period followed the presentation.  The slides are available below:

20140409 Overview of Radiological Event (Rev 2)

Photos from this Speaker Meeting are below (more to follow soon!):

Thank you all for attending!

ANS Connecticut Section Speaker Meeting Announcement for April 9th, 2014

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Transuranic Uptake at a Commercial Nuclear Power Station

Please join us in welcoming Michael D. Quinn, of WorkPlace Cornerstone Associates (WCA), who will talk about an event at the Bruce Nuclear Power Station that resulted in several hundred worker exposures.

Abstract: During the multi-year refurbishment of Bruce Nuclear Power Station Units 1 and 2, a number of crafts people were engaged in the cutting and grinding of reactor feeder pipes over a several month period.  This evolution resulted in a chronic [and at the time, unknown] release of significant quantities of airborne transuranic (alpha) contamination into the general reactor vault atmosphere.  As a result, several hundred construction trades workers and unit restart staff were exposed to and potentially had an uptake of airborne alpha contamination.

This presentation discusses the precursors to this high consequence/high significance event, the recovery effort, and the lessons learned from the multi-billion dollar refurbishment project.

About the speaker:

Michael Quinn is a Principal of WCA, and has 39 years of experience in the commercial nuclear power industry.  He started his career at CT Yankee Haddam Neck in 1975, earning a SRO License.  Later he worked on the Station Recovery effort while Millstone was on the NRC watch list (1995-1999).  Michael has consulted for the past 14 years to US and Canadian nuclear power stations, nuclear suppliers, and the US NRC, as well as with US DOE operations at Hanford, WIPP, Los Alamos, and Las Vegas.  Dr. Quinn specializes in Human Performance, PI&R, and Safety Culture to facilitate High Reliability performance.

We will be meeting at the Nutmeg Restaurant at 297 South Main Street, East Windsor, CT, April 9th, 2014 at 6PM.  All of the details are provided this flyer:  20140409 Speaker Meeting Announcement

So please save this date on your calendars and RSVP with your dinner selection, affiliation, and contact information by April 4th to Stephen Szarek at 860-731-6313 or szareksw@westinghouse.com.  Dinner choices are:

  • Chicken Francaise
  • Salmon Jacqueline
  • Prime Rib
  • Vegetarian Stir Fry

We hope to see you there!

Photos from the Granby Memorial High School Job Shadow Day

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Below are photos from the February 4th, 2014 Second Annual Job Shadow Day.  Students form Granby Memorial High School were invited into the Westinghouse Electric Company’s Addison Road Fuel Manufacturing Facility.   The students were paired with engineers working on the factory floor for part of the day.  Group sessions were also held to answer questions and to discuss career and college choices for ALL engineering fields.   A big THANK YOU to Westinghouse and to the Volunteers and the students who participated!

ANS Northeastern Section Speaker Meeting Announcement for February 12, 2014

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From the AEC to Today: Hope Deferred, Not Lost

Speaker:  Llewellyn King

Executive producer at White House Chronicle and  Chief executive officer, King Publishing Group

Llewellyn KingAbout The Speaker:

Dr. King was the founder, publisher and editor in chief of The Energy Daily. The energy industry newsletter–created before the energy crisis broke out in 1973–was the flagship of King Publishing Group, whose other award-winning titles included Defense Week, New Technology Week, Navy News & Undersea Technology and White House Weekly.

At age 16 Dr. King began his career in journalism began in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, as a foreign correspondent for Time magazine. Moving to London in 1959, he worked as an executive for The Daily Mirror Group, a reporter for Associated Newspapers, and a news writer for BBC and ITN.

After moving to the United States, Dr King worked as an editor and reporter for The New York Herald Tribune, The Baltimore News-American, The Washington Daily News and The Washington Post followed by a stint at McGraw-Hill’s Nucleonics Week which led to founding The Energy Daily.

Meeting Flyer:  February 12th 2014 NE Section Flyer

For meeting information and online reservations go to:  http://local.ans.org/ne

Dinner:
Members and Visitors : $30.00
Students: $10.00
Spouse: $30.00
Non-members: $42.00

Checks and/or Cash only:
5:30 pm: Registration & Social Hour
6:15 pm: Dinner- Buffett Served
7:00 pm: Speaker
8:15 pm: Adjourn

No Show Advisory:
We are charged according to the head-count provided prior to the meeting, no-shows hurt ANS/NE financially. If you need to cancel after signing up, please give us notice before 12:00 noon on February 10, 2014.
Please note if you make reservations and don’t show up, we will end up paying for your dinner.  If your plans change, please let us know ahead of time, otherwise, we will be asking you for the full payment.

Location:
The meeting location is the atrium of the CB&I (formerly Shaw Group) office at 150 Royal Street, Canton, MA. It is off of Route 38 just north of 128 (I-93).

The schedule for future Northeastern Section meetings is available on the NE site:  http://local.ans.org/ne/

ANS Northeastern Section Speaker Meeting Announcement for December 4th, 2013

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Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Licensing Insights

Speaker: Dr. Cameron Goodwin
Director,  Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center (RINSC)

About The Speaker:

Dr. Cameron Goodwin is the Director of the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center (RINSC), located on the Bay Campus of the University of Rhode Island.  Prior to coming to RINSC, she worked at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  While at the NRC, she worked initially with operating power plants and then moved to advanced reactor designs, including Small Modular Reactors and High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

For meeting information and online reservations go to:  http://local.ans.org/ne

Contact Information:
Dr. Cameron Goodwin, Director
Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center
16 Reactor Rd
Narragansett, RI 02882
P – (401) 789-9391
F – (401) 782-4201
cgoodwin@rinsc.ri.gov

Dinner:
Members and Visitors : $30.00
Students: $10.00
Spouse: $30.00
Non-members: $42.00

Checks and/or Cash only:
5:30 pm: Registration & Social Hour
6:15 pm: Dinner- Buffett Served (from Bella Costa restaurant)
7:00 pm: Speaker
8:15 pm: Adjourn

No Show Advisory:
We are charged according to the head-count provided prior to the meeting, no-shows hurt ANS/NE financially. If you need to cancel after signing up, please give us notice before 12:00 noon on December 2.
Please note if you make reservations and don’t show up, we will end up paying for your dinner.  If your plans change, please let us know ahead of time, otherwise, we will be asking you for the full payment.

Location:
EPM, Inc., 959 Concord Street, Framingham, MA
Take Mass Pike to Natick exit, (exit 13) keep right after the tolls and continue on Route 30 west bound to right turn on to Concord Street, (route 126 North) to EPM office at 959, brick three story building, proceed to 3rd floor.

The schedule for future Northeastern Section meetings is available on the NE site:  http://local.ans.org/ne/

Photos from October 23rd, 2013 Speaker Event at University of Hartford

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The University of Hartford demonstrated its “See-Thru Reactor” to a crowd of about 30 including ANS President Donald Hoffman.  This is a remarkable piece of craftsmanship created by the U of H students and a fantastic way to impart basic physical principals to future students.  It is also a lot of fun to watch.

ANS President Donald Hoffman then presented Professor James Sherrard with a Silver Anniversary Award  to mark the Three Rivers Community College ANS Student Section’s 25th year of operation!

Photos from this event are below:

The names in the group photo are (from left to right):  Eric Betts, Student Chapter Vice President Glenn Chabot, James Mosher, ANS President Donald Hoffman, Peter Van Den Berg, Student Chapter Advisor & Nuclear Department Chairman Professor James Sherrard, David Mostowy, Austin LaCroix, Jeffrey Fluet, and Alexander Poutchkov.  One student on the far left cropped out of photo is Daniel Clements (sorry!).

The Student Chapter at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, CT is the oldest two-year student chapter in the nation and is very active in attending nuclear and health physics-related professional opportunities,  including dinner meetings, technical tours, and hosting industry guest speakers.  Typically one half of the graduates immediately transfer into either nuclear engineering or health physics BS degree programs while the other half seek employment in commercial nuclear power.  The track records for both groups is exceptional.  The program started in 1983 as a joint venture between Northeast Utilities and Thames Valley State Technical College to provide the educational credential needed for advancement within operational positions in nuclear power.  The program received its initial TAC (now ETAC) of ABET accreditation in 1989.  The college became Three Rivers Community College in 1992 after a local merger between the technical college and a community college; Dominion purchased Northeast Utilities’ nuclear assets in Connecticut in 2000.  The utility still continues to provide 16 full scholarships each year to selected entering freshmen and the program offers a 12-week paid internship at the nearby Millstone Nuclear Power Complex.  To date some 241 of the program graduates have gone to work at Northeast Utilities/Dominion Nuclear Connecticut facilities.  Other state and regional employers routinely hire TRCC nuclear graduates.

Congratulations to Three Rivers and to Professor Sherrard!  What a great night.  Thank you all!

Presentations and Photos from October 23rd, 2013 Speaker Event at Westinghouse

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On October 23rd, 2013, to celebrate National Nuclear Science Week, ANS President Donald Hoffman spoke at Westinghouse to a packed room on his vision for ANS and on the state of the nuclear industry today.  Links to Donald Hoffman’s two presentation slides are available here:

20131023 Presentation Hoffman Vision Initiatives Update Oct 2013

20131023 Presentation State of Nuclear Oct 23 2013_Don Hoffman

During this presentation, the ANS Connecticut Section Chair, Stephen Szarek was presented with two local section Meritorious Awards for 2013:

  • Best Small Section for Public Information
  • Best Small Section for Section Management

Following the presentation, a plaque was unveiled that will be used for the Dedication of the Christopher Hoffman Memorial Library.

Photos from this event are below:

Thank you to all who attended!