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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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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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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.”
Kunihiko Tomiyasu, Kai Yokoyama, Kunihito Yamauchi, Masato Watanabe, Akitoshi Okino, Eiki Hotta
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 2 | August 2009 | Pages 967-971
Plasma Engineering | Eighteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A9035
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In order to evaluate the effect of cusp magnetic field in the cylindrical Radially Convergent Beam Fusion (RCBF) device, four kinds of experimental setups were examined. The maximum Neutron Production Rate (NPR) of 7.4 x 109 n/s was obtained at -80 kV and 15 A. As a result of the theoretical evaluation of fusion regimes in the RCBF device, the NPR normalized by the cathode current and the gas pressure was compared between the setups. The experimental data showed that the normalized NPR is highly correlated with the gas pressure, and it was independent of the setups. As the gas pressure decreased, the normalized NPR was increased. Hence, the present study suggests that the effect of the cusp magnetic field is to achieve lower pressure operation which improves the normalized NPR. The numerical estimation became in agreement with the experimental result by introducing an adjusting factor which was highly correlated with the pressure. The difference of the pressure is expected to affect some factors, such as an effective cathode transparency.
