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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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General Kenneth Nichols and the Manhattan Project
Nichols
The Oak Ridger has published the latest in a series of articles about General Kenneth D. Nichols, the Manhattan Project, and the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. The series has been produced by Nichols’ grandniece Barbara Rogers Scollin and Oak Ridge (Tenn.) city historian David Ray Smith. Gen. Nichols (1907–2000) was the district engineer for the Manhattan Engineer District during the Manhattan Project.
As Smith and Scollin explain, Nichols “had supervision of the research and development connected with, and the design, construction, and operation of, all plants required to produce plutonium-239 and uranium-235, including the construction of the towns of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Richland, Washington. The responsibility of his position was massive as he oversaw a workforce of both military and civilian personnel of approximately 125,000; his Oak Ridge office became the center of the wartime atomic energy’s activities.”
A. V. Burdakov et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 59 | Number 1 | January 2011 | Pages 9-16
doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A11564
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The paper summarizes recent advances in physics of multiple-mirror confinement. GOL-3 in Novosibirsk is the only existing large-scale device of this type. Achieved plasma parameters are: n ~ 1021 m-3, T ~ 2 keV, E ~ 1 ms. Intense experimental and theoretical studies revealed several new collective phenomena that radically change plasma behavior in the trap as compared to simple classical theory. These phenomena are intrinsically linked to the second major feature of GOL-3, namely, fast plasma heating by a high-power relativistic electron beam. Collective beam-plasma interaction delivers energy to plasma through strong Langmuir turbulence and changes other plasma properties as well. In particular, the turbulent plasma in GOL-3 features suppressed axial heat transport, fast collective heating of ions, limitation of axial particle loss, and MHD stabilization by a magnetic shear. Mentioned phenomena greatly improve prospects of multiple-mirror confinement for fusion reactor applications. An outlook for possible fusion-scale device is presented.
