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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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!
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Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
Dr. Miles Leverett was a charter member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), joining the Society in 1955. In 1960, he became the 6th president of the American Nuclear Society. He was recipient of ANS’ Standards Service Award and was the first chairman for the ANS Standards Committee.
Dr. Miles Leverett was born on December 18, 1910. He started his career at Humble Oil (now Exxon-Mobil) in 1938 to do research on mixtures of fluids. A few years later, his boss disappeared, and later called him from an undisclosed location to enlist him for a “war project”. As a result, he joined the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago in May 1942.
Dr. Leverett was subsequently assigned to the Clinton Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to form what was ultimately the Technical Division with responsibility for the engineering design of the air-cooled, graphite moderated X-10 reactor. The purpose of this pilot plant was to demonstrate the production of Pu239 from U238 in the reactor and the chemical separation of Pu239 from U238 and fission products. The information gained guided the scale-up to the plutonium production plants in Hanford, Washington. Dr. Leverett was also involved in the engineering aspects of remotely separating Pu239 from bulk quantities of irradiated natural uranium, and in isolating Ba140 from spent natural uranium from which radioactive lanthanum was extracted for ultimate use in the final design of the bomb.
Starting in 1943, when personnel from the University of Chicago were transferred to Oak Ridge, Eugene Wigner envisioned peaceful uses for atomic energy. Thus, from the beginning, the Technical Division at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) under Miles Leverett expended considerable effort to design a Materials Testing Reactor (MTR), which was ultimately built in a location that eventually became the Idaho National Laboratory.
In 1948, after the Atomic Energy Commission decided to concentrate all reactor work at Argonne National Laboratory, Leverett in Oak Ridge, TN returned briefly to his previous job at Humble Oil. However, in 1949, he returned to ORNL to work on an Air Force initiative to develop nuclear-powered airplanes. Dr. Miles Leverett became the technical director of Fairchild , which was managing the Air Force program.
In 1951, the Air Force replaced Fairchild with a number of contractors, and Leverett joined General Electric’s program as the manager of development laboratories and relocated to Cincinnati. In 1961, President Kennedy cancelled the ANP project. Dr. Leverett stayed with General Electric, relocated to San Francisco and eventually retired in 1976.
Dr. Leverett was also a pioneer in organizing the nuclear engineering profession. He chaired the Nuclear Engineering Committee of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) after World War II.
In 1984, he was admitted into the National Academy of Engineering. His election citation read “For pioneering contributions to nuclear reactor designs and for a broad range of contributions to the enhancement of safety in the nuclear industry.” He was also awarded several patents for his works.
He earned his BS in 1931 in chemical engineering from Kansas State, an MSE in 1932 in petroleum engineering from University of Oklahoma and a Sc.D. in chemical engineering from MIT in 1938.
Dr. Miles Leverett passed away on March 27, 2001.
Last modified January 20, 2021, 6:29am CST
