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Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
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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.”
S. Sugihara et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 4 | November 2011 | Pages 1300-1303
Environmental and Organically Bound Tritium | Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12669
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The levels of tritium in the atmosphere are nowadays almost only of natural origin and of the same range as before the era of the nuclear tests. In order to appraise the influence of tritium released from nuclear facilities to the environment, it is necessary to confirm the effect of tritium appearing overlapped on background tritium levels.Tritium concentrations and stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in rain water, stream water and groundwater at the NIFS (National Institute for Fusion Science, Gifu prefecture, Japan) site were analyzed to understand behavior of the natural tritium in coupling with rain event. Conductivity, temperature and flow rate of the stream were monitored continuously. The range of tritium concentrations in rain for three year period was 0.09-0.78 Bq/l (average 0.37±0.14 Bq/l). The tritium concentrations of stream water and groundwater were almost constant, 0.34 Bq/l and 0.25 Bq/l, respectively. The isotopic ratio of oxygen and hydrogen showed a typical seasonal pattern observed in Japan. Two component separation analysis was carried out for the stream water at the time of rain using isotopic ratio, conductivity and tritium concentration.
