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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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Fusion Science and Technology
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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.K. Sood, C. Fong, K.M. Kalyanam, O.K. Kveton, A. Busigin, D.M. Ruthven
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 2 | March 1992 | Pages 299-304
Tritium Processing | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29761
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA), which is a well established industrial process for separating and purifying industrial gases, is proposed for recovery of hydrogen isotopes from the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) solid breeder He purge stream. The PSA process has an inherent advantage over a recently proposed Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA) design because it allows much faster cycling (10 vs. 480 min.) and therefore has significantly (48 times) lower tritium inventory. The maximum tritium inventory for a 10 minute PSA cycle is less than 0.5 g of tritium, thus meeting an important safety goal of ITER. The PSA process is based on using molecular sieve 5A at 77 K, with pressure cycling from 1 – 2 MPa during the adsorption cycle, to a rough vacuum during regeneration. Experiments have been carried out to confirm the H2/He adsorption isotherms on molecular sieve 5A, and to develop new data points at low H2 partial pressures and a temperature of 77 K. A dynamic simulation model has been developed to facilitate system design and optimization. Simulation results indicate that a single-pass hydrogen isotope recovery of 50–80% is achievable, and that hydrogen purity of more than 99% is possible to obtain from the blanket purge stream containing only 0.1% total hydrogen in helium. Further experiments are underway to verify the dynamic simulation results and to investigate alternative adsorbent materials.