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Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.”
R. T. Santoro, R. G. Alsmiller, Jr., J. M. Barnes
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 449-459
Technical Paper | Blanket Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29385
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutronics parameters including the source neutron spectrum, activation rates, and the tritium breeding in the Li2O test zone of the Fusion Neutron Source Phase II experiment performed at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute are calculated using the Monte Carlo code MORSE with ENDF/B-V transport and reaction cross sections. Favorable comparisons between the measured and calculated results are achieved for the 27Al(n,α), 58Ni(n,p), 93Nb(n,2n), and 197Au(n,2n) reactions. Calculated 58Ni(n,2n) and 197Au(n,γ) reactions do not agree with measured values within 10 to 40%. For the nickel reaction, the differences may be due to poor data in the ORACT files, while discrepancies for the gold data may be due to unknown quantities of hydrogen-rich epoxy used to coat the Li2CO3 blocks used in the test assembly walls. The calculated tritium breeding in the Li2O agrees with experimental values within ±10% for 6Li and ±15 to 20% for 7Li.