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.”
C.B. Baxi, M.A. Ulrickson, D.E. Driemeyer, P. Heitzcnroeder
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 408-411
Advanced Designs | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963269
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Fusion Ignition Research Experiment (FIRE) is being designed as a next step in the U.S. magnetic fusion program. The FIRE tokamak has a major radius of 2 m, a minor radius of 0.525 m, and liquid nitrogen cooled copper coils. The aim is to produce a pulse length of 20 s with a plasma current of 6.6 MA and with alpha dominated heating.
The outer divertor and baffle of FIRE are water cooled. The worst thermal condition for the outer divertor and baffle is the baseline D-T operating mode (10 T, 6.6 MA, 20 s) with a plasma exhaust power of 67 MW and a peak heat flux of 20 MW/m2. A swirl tape (ST) heat transfer enhancement method is used in the outer divertor cooling channels to increase the heat transfer coefficient and the critical heat flux (CHF). The plasma-facing surface consists of tungsten brush.
The finite element (FE) analysis shows that for an inlet water temperature of 30°C, inlet pressure of 1.5 MPa and a flow velocity of 10 m/s, the incident critical heat flux is greater than 30 MW/m2. The peak copper temperature is 490°C, peak tungsten temperature is 1560°C, and the pressure drop is less than 0.5 MPa. All these results fulfill the design requirements.
