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Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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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Fusion Science and Technology
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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.”
Adrian Serban, Sing Lee
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 35 | Number 1 | January 1999 | Pages 54-61
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A77
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To study the effect of higher axial sheath velocities on neutron production, the geometry of the inner electrode (anode) of a 3-kJ Mather-type plasma focus device was modified. Double-stage stepped-anode configurations were tested with a speed-enhanced region long enough for a significant increase in speed but not long enough to allow the development of force-field flow-field separation at the end of the axial phase. Peak axial speeds up to 15 cm/s were achieved without modifying the deuterium filling pressure and charging voltage. The neutron and soft X-ray productions were found to be dependent on sheath velocity. A new scaling law for the nonbeam component of the neutron yield was proposed.
