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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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
The Frisch-Peierls memorandum: A seminal document of nuclear history
The Manhattan Project is usually considered to have been initiated with Albert Einstein’s letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in October 1939. However, a lesser-known document that was just as impactful on wartime nuclear history was the so-called Frisch-Peierls memorandum. Prepared by two refugee physicists at the University of Birmingham in Britain in early 1940, this manuscript was the first technical description of nuclear weapons and their military, strategic, and ethical implications to reach high-level government officials on either side of the Atlantic. The memorandum triggered the initiation of the British wartime nuclear program, which later merged with the Manhattan Engineer District.
S. Y. Kazantsev, S. N. Kuznetsov, A. Y. Maksimov, N. V. Pchelkina
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 7 | October 2024 | Pages 893-903
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2024.2339662
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analysis of the prospects for the use of atmospheric optical communication lines at industrial nuclear energy installations, including thermonuclear (fusion) reactors and energy facilities with on-site fuel reprocessing plants, was carried out. It is shown that modern atmospheric communication terminals make it possible to implement high-speed data exchange within the perimeter of energy complexes, as well as to provide an external backup communication channel protected by use of quantum key distribution technology. The absence of the need to lay special cables through limited-access areas to organize high-speed data transmission provides a significant advantage of atmospheric communication systems over any wired communication systems. A methodology is presented for assessing the feasibility of using atmospheric optical communications at nuclear facilities, and based on long-term meteorological observations in the area where ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is located, graphs of the availability of atmospheric communications are constructed. The high prospects of using atmospheric laser communication at nuclear and fusion facilities are shown.