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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.”
C. P. C. Wong, I. Maya, K. R. Schultz, C. Kessel, D. Roelant
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 8 | Number 2 | September 1985 | Pages 2133-2142
Blanket and Process Engineering | Proceedings of the Second National Topical Meeting on Tritium Technology in Fission, Fusion and Isotopic Applications (Dayton, Ohio, April 30 to May 2, 1985) | doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A24599
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
As a part of the Blanket Comparison and Selection Study (BCSS), GA Technologies was responsible for the design of helium-cooled, solid- and liquid-metal breeder blankets. Conceptual blanket designs were developed, including the consideration of the generation, transport, and extraction of tritium. Evaluations were made of the inventory and leakage of tritium for helium-cooled Li2O and LiAlO2 and liquid lithium breeder blankets for tokamak and tandem mirror reactors. To facilitate the evaluation, a solid breeder tritium code TRIT4 was developed. In the helium-cooled solid-breeder blanket designs the bred tritium is extracted by a purge stream of helium flowing through the metal-clad solid breeder plates. For the Li2O designs, the breeder tritium inventory was found to be dominated by the solubility of LiOT in Li2O. For the LiAlO2 designs, the breeder tritium inventory was found to be dominated by the slow bulk diffusion of tritium in the breeder. The total tritium inventories for these designs are in the range of 24 to 134 gm, which is quite acceptable. Tritium control of the Li designs consists of circulation of the liquid lithium and optional slipstream cleanup of the primary coolant. The tritium inventory, dominated by the efficiency of the tritium extraction system, can be kept to an acceptable 330 gm. Tritium losses by permeation through the steam generator were also calculated. The influx of tritium into the main coolant stream includes permeation through the breeder cladding and first wall. The leakage rates for all the helium-cooled blanket designs are less than 100 Ci/day. The results from this study indicate that tritium inventories and leakages are acceptable for the proposed helium-cooled blankets. An assumption made in the tritium leakage calculations was that tritium is released to the helium purge and coolant streams as T2 and remains in that form. If oxidation to T2O is possible, significant reduction in the tritium leakage will be possible. We conclude that more experimental data on breeder material properties and tritium permeation behavior are needed. However, we are certain that an adequate number of different techniques are available to control the breeder tritium inventory and leakage to an acceptable level in helium-cooled solid- and lithium-breeder blankets.
