Tommy Thompson Award

The Tommy Thompson Award for Nuclear Safety is presented annually to persons who have made outstanding contributions to the enhancement of nuclear installations safety. The award is named in honor of Professor Theos J. (Tommy) Thompson of MIT, who made outstanding contributions to nuclear reactor safety, including being the principal author of a pioneering textbook on the subject.

George C. Laurence Award

The George C. Laurence Award for Pioneering Contributions to Nuclear Safety is presented in honor of Dr. George C. Laurence who was one of the pioneers in the Canadian nuclear program and who showed remarkable insight by early introducing the risk-informed concept and establishing it, in his capacity of President of the Atomic Energy Control Board, as an integral part of the Canadian nuclear safety regulatory system. The George C. Laurence Award is given occasionally based on the availability of qualified candidates.

David Okrent Award for Nuclear Safety

The David Okrent Award for Nuclear Safety was established by the Nuclear Installations Safety Division in 2019 to recognize recent contributions and accomplishments of significant value to nuclear safety. The award is open to ANS members active in the field of nuclear safety. Particular attention shall be given to identifying and recognizing valuable contributions by young professionals and students (age requirement under 40) to the safety community and to NISD sponsored activities. Recipient qualifications shall be documented in recommendation letters to the NISD H&AC as part of the nomination process.

The selection process is a two-step procedure, namely:

1. a preliminary screening based on the brief description of the candidate's accomplishments submitted by the nominator;
2. a more in-depth selection from those candidates who passed the initial screening. This latter process requires submission of a number of letters of recommendation stating the reasons why the candidate is qualified for the award.

How to Apply

ANS members are invited to nominate candidates for the above-mentioned awards. To be considered for upcoming year awards, nominations should be received prior to December 1 of the current year and should be accompanied by a brief description of each candidate's accomplishments. Candidates are not required to be members of ANS, nor are they required to be residents or citizens of the USA.

Please send nominations to:

Dr. Matthew Denman at

denman@kairospower.com