ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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. Wojenski, K. Pozniak, G. Kasprowicz, W. Zabolotny, A. Byszuk, P. Zienkiewicz, M. Chernyshova, T. Czarski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 69 | Number 3 | May 2016 | Pages 595-604
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-189
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work refers to the measurement system for soft-X-ray radiation (SXR) diagnostics using gaseous electron multiplier (GEM) detectors. In terms of tokamak plasma parameter control and optimization, it is important to determine the level of SXR generated by plasma. This work describes the whole system including the GEM detector, electronic modules, and data acquisition (DAQ) path. The structure of the DAQ system is presented in terms of hardware, firmware, and software architecture. The currently developed hardware allows sampling of the GEM detector signals with 125-MHz frequency and real-time field-programmable gate array (FPGA) processing. It enables processing of all events generated by the highest possible photon flux for the GEM detector. The developed FPGA firmware registers digitized GEM detector signals with a global trigger up to 625 kHz with all 64 channels sampling simultaneously and stores them in the local memory. Therefore, it makes it possible to obtain the photon energy spectra at high photon flux (105 to 106 counts · mm−2 · s−1) in online acquisition mode. The software block performs a DAQ system start-up configuration and provides the user interface. The first preliminary results of laboratory tests are also presented.