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The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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!
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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.”
J. Rapp, A. Lumsdaine, C. J. Beers, T. M. Biewer, T. S. Bigelow, J. F. Caneses, J. B. O. Caughman, R. H. Goulding, N. Kafle, C. H. Lau, E. Lindquist, P. A. Piotrowicz, H. Ray, M. Showers, the MPEX Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 7 | October 2019 | Pages 654-663
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1610315
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Prototype Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX) is being used to qualify the plasma source and heating systems for the Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX). The MPEX will address important and urgent research needs on plasma material interactions for future fusion reactors. In MPEX, plasma-facing components (nonirradiated and a priori neutron irradiated) will be exposed to plasma conditions as they are expected in future fusion reactors. The MPEX, a steady-state device enabled by superconducting magnets, will be able to break into new ground by assessing plasma-facing materials and components at an ion fluence level in the range of 1030 to 1031 m−2. To achieve the relevant plasma conditions, high-density plasmas (>4 × 1019 m−3) are produced with a high-power helicon source. The so-produced low-temperature helicon plasma is then additionally heated with waves in the ion cyclotron resonance frequency and electron cyclotron resonance frequency domains. Proto-MPEX has achieved all key parameters (source ne, source Te, source Ti, target Te, target Ti, target ion flux, and target heat flux) within a factor of 2 of the design requirements of MPEX, albeit not simultaneously. These parameters were achieved with a total installed heating power of 330 kW, which is less than half of the planned heating power in the MPEX (800 kW). An overview of the latest results from Proto-MPEX is given. These results are shown in relationship to the MPEX system goals. Remaining necessary research and development tasks are discussed. The MPEX is currently in the conceptual design phase. The status of the design and an overview of the system requirements are presented.
