Welcome to the ANS Nuclear Cafe

We arrived at the Nuclear Cafe name because it captures the collaborative nature of the blog as well as the concept of this being an interactive discussion of nuclear topics.  As defined in Wikipedia, a "cafe" refers to a small, informal public discussion, which can often focus on starting an open conversation on a particular topic.  Examples include science cafes in the US, Café Scientifique in the UK, the Cafe Society in Chicago, and now the ANS Nuclear Cafe.

The Cafe concept is at the heart of this blog.  The blog will feature a range of topics, including

• recurring entries on federal affairs related to nuclear science and technology;
• discussions of public information programs;
• alerts and links to online discussions on nuclear topics;
• developments and updates related to ANS Professional Divisions; and
• exclusive content provided by ANS members on topics of interest to ANS members.

I urge ANS members, whether you are already engaged in social media  or just getting started, to join  the discussion.   In addition to the new ANS Nuclear Cafe, I encourage each of you to participate in our other Social Media activities which are described below:

Twitter - ANS establishes and advertises a twitter hashtag for each national conference.   The ANS November 2010 meeting will be tweeted using the hashmark #ans10.   Twitter users can follow the American Nuclear Society at @ans_org to stay up-to-date on events of interest to our community.  You can also click on the Twitter icon on the lower right menu to go directly to the ANS account.

Social Media Group - The ANS Public Information Committee now operates a dedicated email discussion list for professionals engaged in promoting nuclear science via social media.  The discussion list is an ANS listserv and is focused on providing timely and accurate information about nuclear science and industry developments in online venues.  This is a high volume list with several discussions taking place daily.  To subscribe, please send an email stating your preferred email address and a one-sentence statement of interest and involvement in the nuclear industry to either Laura Scheele (ANS Outreach) at Tel: (708) 579-8224 or to Dan Yurman (Chair, ANS Social Media Group) at Tel: (208)-521-5726.

LinkedIn - Join hundreds of other ANS Members that already belong to the ANS group on the business networking Web site LinkedIn, allowing them to display the ANS logo on their LinkedIn profiles and connect with ANS colleagues.  The ANS group on LinkedIn also provides areas for sharing news and participating in online discussions.  To join, visit LinkedIn or click on the Linked-In icon on the lower right menu.

We welcome your feedback and thoughts on individual entries and suggestions for future topics.   The Society's vision is to be a credible advocate for advancing and promoting nuclear science and technology.  The ANS Nuclear Cafe furthers this vision by bringing the perspectives and insights of our members to the social media sphere.

Thank you for visiting the ANS Nuclear Cafe.  Feel free to pull up a chair and stay for a while.  We hope you will be a frequent guest.

Joe Colvin is the 56th president of the American Nuclear Society. He has been an ANS member since 2001 and has worked to obtain senior nuclear utility expertise on ANS committees and the Board of Directors. Colvin is President Emeritus of the Nuclear Energy Institute, and he serves on the boards of Cameco Corporation, the world's largest uranium company, and US Ecology, a hazardous and radioactive waste disposal company. He also is on the boards of non-profit organizations such as the Foundation for Nuclear Studies, which was set up by NEI to help provide the U.S. House and Senate with information on nuclear technology.

Colvin holds a BSEE degree with honors from the University of New Mexico and he completed advanced nuclear engineering studies with the Navy Nuclear Power Program. He is a career nuclear Navy submarine officer and he served on the Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board. For a full ANS President's Profile, please visit the July 2010 issue of Nuclear News.