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Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.”
Gregory C. Hahn, Elijah H. Martin, Mohamed A. Bourham
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 1197-1201
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Inertial Fusion Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A850
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Plasma interaction with first wall and interior reactor chamber components is an influencing factor in the design of inertial fusion facilities. The concept of a liquid metal wall, in which a circulating lithium curtain would be used, has been considered in many studies. The interaction of plasmas with moving liquid metals is a complex subject due to the influence of hydrodynamics, evaporation and droplet formation, nucleation and agglomeration of condensed particulates. To gain an understanding of some of the specific details of this interaction an experimental setup of an arc-generated plasma interacting with a liquid lead pool has been designed, constructed and operated. This simulation of the plasma-liquid interaction focuses on the particle condensation of the liquid metal after plasma interaction. The experiment generates transient high-density plasma over 50 s pulse duration. Plasma characteristics are determined by various diagnostics. A set of collection substrates are arranged to collect nucleated particulates condensing from the evolving plume. Particulate size and distribution are analyzed numerically using digital images.
