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The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
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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. Shin, S. I. Abdel-Khalik, M. Yoda, the ARIES Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 3 | April 2005 | Pages 708-712
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Divertor and Plasma-Facing Components | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A768
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent work on liquid-surface-protected plasma facing components has resulted in the establishment of operating windows for candidate liquids, as well as limits on the maximum allowable liquid surface temperature in order to limit plasma impurities from liquid evaporation. In this study, an additional constraint on the maximum allowable surface temperature gradient (i.e., heat flux gradient) has been quantified. Spatial variations in the wall and liquid surface temperatures are expected due to variations in the incident radiation and particle fluxes. Thermocapillary forces created by such temperature gradients can lead to film rupture and dry spot formation in regions of elevated local temperatures. Here, attention has been focused on "non-flowing" thin liquid films similar to those formed on the surface of porous wettedwall components. Future analyses will include the effects of macroscopic fluid motion, and MHD forces.A numerical model using the level contour reconstruction method was used to follow the evolution of the liquid free surface above a non-isothermal solid surface. The model was used to develop generalized charts for the maximum allowable spatial temperature gradients (i.e., the critical Marangoni number) as a function of the governing non-dimensional variables, viz. the Weber, Froude, and Prandtl numbers, and aspect ratio. Attention was focused on the asymptotic limit for thin liquid films (i.e., low aspect ratio) which provides a lower bound for the maximum allowable temperature gradients. Specific examples for lithium, Flibe, lithium-lead, tin, and gallium are presented. The generalized charts developed in this investigation will allow reactor designers to identify design windows for successful operation of liquid-protected plasma facing components for various coolants, film thicknesses, and operating conditions.