Future meeting dates
April 19, 2023 at 8:30 AM PST SONGS tour

April 19, 2023: The San Diego Section of the ANS and the General Atomics Retirees Association (GARA) have jointly scheduled a tour of the former San Onofre nuclear power plant site, just south of San Clemente, on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The time is from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. Registration is required by April 7. If you’d like to attend, click the link below to request registration information.
Ronald Petzoldt
A dramatic video of a crane demolition at Unit 2 can be seen below
March 15, 2023 at 5 PM PST How ANS is advancing nuclear science and technology and how you can help.
ANS President Steven Arndt described the current state of ANS and Nuclear Power Generation. He discussed the important roll that our members can play in advocating nuclear science, technology and nuclear power. The link to his presentation is appended below.
March 15, 2023 SONGS Decommissioning Project
This presentation was actually given at the General Atomics Retiree Association meeting, but is very pertinent to our sections mission and activities. The link to Manuel Carmago’s presentation is appended below.
February 19, 2023, Engineers Week Festival Awards Ceremony.
We set up a booth at the Engineers Week Festival and participated in the awards ceremony. We were also among the sponsors for this event. Katherine Partain, Ron Petzoldt and Florian Effenberg attended the meeting.
Later in the week, SDCEC Treasurer, Ken Discenza, received a plaque from SD City Council member Joe LaCava proclaiming Feb 19, 2023 to Feb, 26, 2023 to be Engineering Week in San Diego. A group of San Diego Engineers, including Katherine Partain, attended the ceremony.
January 3, 2023 - Nuclear Energy and Spent Fuel Storage
Katherine Partain spoke to the Concerned Citizens of Laguna Village. They invited the members of the San Diego Section to join them for this event.
The subject matter they requested included the nuclear waste at San Onofre, why nuclear power is needed if we as a nation are to get off of fossil fuels ASAP, the advances made in the nuclear structures, plus the material and the handling of nuclear waste, including the US government’s long-term plans for nuclear waste storage.
We met in Clubhouse 7 in the Laguna Woods Village, which is at 24111 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Woods, CA 92537
Click on the link below for a copy of Katherine’s presentation.
September 21, 2022. Tour of the General Atomics DIII-D Fusion Facility.
We participated in this tour with the Society of Women Engineers, (SWE) SD Section.
May 18, 2022 UC Irvine TRIGA reactor tour
Professor Shaka led a group of SDANS members on a tour of their TRIGA reactor. The reactor was operating and has been in place since 1968.

Professor Shaka Standing directly above the reactor pool.

The TRIGA Reactor in the water pool.

TRIGA Control Panel.
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January 26, 2022 - Chernobyl Tour
The first San Diego ANS Zoom meeting of 2022 was held on January 26 at 5 PM. A 20 minute video entitled “CHERNOBYL TOUR | What Do You See 35 Years After a Nuclear Disaster?” was included. Link to video below.
November 17, 2021 Tony Veca - TRIGA International
November 18, 2020 - Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar - President ANS
We were fortunate to have ANS National President, Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar give a presentation entitled, Where is the Love? Why isn’t Nuclear Power Embraced as THE Clean Energy Source?
September 16, 2020, A Broad-ranging Look at the Nuclear Community and the State of Nuclear.
Zoom meeting, Craig Piercy, CEO American Nuclear Society, “A Broad-ranging Look at the Nuclear Community and the State of Nuclear.” An overarching view of nuclear today, the state of nuclear in the modern world, and how the nuclear community is doing at-large.
February 20-26, 2022 - SDCEC Engineers Week Celebrations.
Ron Petzoldt, Katherine Partain and Florian Effenberg participated in the festivities on February 20, 2022.
SDCEC website https://www.sandiegoengineers.org/
May 14, 2020 Climate change presentation to WAC
Our long-time member Mehdi Sarram was the speaker for a Zoom meeting of the San Diego World Affairs Council. He presented a talk about fighting climate change with nuclear power and renewable energy. Link to his presentation below.
February 19, 2020, Songs Decomissioning Update
Manuel Camargo; Principal Manager, Strategic Planning SONGS Decommissioning
Southern California Edison
Link to his presentation below
January 22, 2020 - Making Nuclear Cool Again
Steven Curtis, past president of the Las Vegas sections of both the Health Physics Society and the American Nuclear Society. He spoke about “Moving Nuclear Forward through Recycling Commercial Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF)”
A link to his presentation is appended below.
Make Nuclear Cool Again, Powerpoint presentation
June 22, 2022, Speakers LT Ryan Kolden and MMNC Redig: Topic: "A day in the Life of a Nuclear Submarine Officer" .
The annual meeting and election were held at University City Round Table Pizza.
Election Results
Chairman Katherine Partain
Secretary/Treasurer Ronald Petzoldt
Executive Committee Florian Effenberg and Ted Quinn
Speaker’s topic “A day in the Life of a Nuclear Submarine Officer” and information about the Navy NUPOC Programs. An overview of the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program and discussion of Navy Nuclear Propulsion and Training.
October 16, 2019 John Kotek, NEI VP of Policy Development & Public Affairs
John discussed NEI’s efforts to preserve today’s nuclear plants, to raise awareness of the value of nuclear energy, and to chart a course for technology innovation and new construction. A link to his presentation is included below.
June 17, 2020 Annual Meeting and Presentation on Climate Change Emergency
Our Annual SDANS meeting was held on Zoom starting at 6:30 PM on June 17. We started with a business meeting, including the election of officers and executive committee for July 2020 through June 2021.
Our speaker was Vojin Joksimovich, speaking on “Climate Change Emergency vs. Nuclear Power”. Vojin has more than 45 years of experience in nuclear safety, risk assessment and risk management and is a member of our San Diego Section. Link to his presentation below.
November 20, 2019 Ron Pontes, San Onofre Decommissioning Project
Synopsis: On October 17, 2019 the California Coastal Commission approved Southern California Edison’s (SCE) coastal development permit (CDP) for SONGS decommissioning. The CDP is necessary for SCE to proceed with decontamination & dismantlement (D&D) of the structures at SONGS.
Starting D&D promptly is important because SCE already has a qualified contractor that is ready to begin work. Plus they can leverage today’s favorable disposal rates to the benefit of customers, and because it allows the current workforce which is knowledgeable about the site to participate in decommissioning. On the other hand, failure to obtain approval of a reasonable CDP would be a significant negative impact to SONGS decommissioning. If conditions or mitigation measures interfere with the performance of the decommissioning work, SCE may be forced to delay the project for many years. Conditions that significantly increase the cost of decommissioning could even jeopardize the sufficiency of the Trust Funds.
September 18, 2019, Submarine tour, USS Annapolis, SSN 760.
A tour of the nuclear-powered submarine at the Naval Base Point Loma, organized by Captain Warren Branges and our chair Katherine Partain. Seventeen participants were divided into three groups for very interesting, personalized guided tours.
May 22, 2019 Advanced Manufacturing Techniques – Key to SMR Deployment Around the World
Ted Quinn
Consultant & Former ANS National President
Advanced Manufacturing Techniques – Key to SMR Deployment Around the World
This talk focused on the major elements in Small Modular Reactor (SMR) deployment that depend on advanced manufacturing techniques, to gain economic competitiveness with large light water reactors (LWR) and lower the risk of deployment for utilities in the U.S. and ownership potential around the world. Advanced techniques used for LWR and lessons learned were addressed as well as newer concepts from other industries (shipbuilding, etc) that can be applied as part of the transition from First-Of-A-Kind (FOAK) to Nth-Of-A-Kind (NOAK). Ted Quinn is President of Technology Resources, a member of the Advisory Board for NuScale Power and a Past President of the American Nuclear Society. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University, a MS in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and served as a Naval Nuclear Qualified Engineer.
Quinn SMR ANS San Diego ANS Talk 05222019
Presentation file.
March 20, 2019 Navy Nuclear Propulsion
April 17, 2019 - Teach the Geek to Speak: Public Speaking for Engineers.
June 19, 2019, The Regulatory Environment for a Safety Conscious Work Environment
Annual Meeting. FY 2020 elections.
November 28, 2018: Maritime Nuclear Applications.
October 24, 2018: Transition at the NRC: the Future of the Agency
January 16, 2019 - Power Plant Licensing Process Evolution In Response to Changes in the Electricity Markets
Harold spoke about how nuclear plant licensing continues to be affected by the evolution in these markets and how this affects the prospect for future new plants.
Harold was responsible for the Part 50 Operating License (OL) for SONGS 1, for the Construction Permit (CP) and OL for SONGS 2 & 3 and for the CP for the planned Vidal HTGR during his 35 years at SCE. During that same time, Harold worked on the development of the Part 52 Design Certification (DC) and Combined Operating License (COL) processes as a member of a NEI working committee. More recently, as chair of the AP1000 subcommittee at the ACRS, he is currently responsible for its licensing activities, including both the Westinghouse DC and the Vogtle 3 & 4 COL. Also, he is involved currently in the ongoing NuScale DC process and the evaluation of further evolution in the process for licensing future power plants. Finally, he has been involved at the DOE and in California for more than 20 years in the evolution of wholesale electricity markets. Harold spoke about how nuclear plant licensing continues to be affected by the evolution in these markets and how this affects the prospect for future new plants.
Harold Ray joined the American Nuclear Society in 1987. Ray became the 48th president of the Society in 2002. He is a member of the Decommissioning and Environmental Services and the Operations and Power Divisions.
May 23, 2018: San Onofre - Nuclear Science and Political Intrigue
February 8, 2018: Songs Decommissioning Status and Plans
February 20, 2019 Media Differences Between Washington State & Southern California
John Dobken, Southern California Edison
His topic was: “ Media Differences Between Washington State & Southern California, Two states, different challenges. Communicating about nuclear energy.”
15 November 2017: The Status of Global Comercial Nuclear Power, Vojin Joksimovich
September 20, 2018: Global Nuclear Waste Disposal
June 20, 2018: California Protons Cancer Therapy Center.
July 25, 2017: X-Energy and the Xe-100 Reactor
July 6, 2017: On the Path to Aneutronic Fusion
May 25, 2017: The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s October 2016 Task Force Report on The Future of Nuclear Power
October 25, 2016 : Advances in Nuclear Power: The Energy Multiplier Module (EM²) and Accident Tolerant Fuel.
December 8, 2016 : Reactor Based Mo-99 Supply Using Selective Gas Extraction
