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Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
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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.”
Jaakko Leppänen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 174 | Number 3 | July 2013 | Pages 318-325
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE12-54
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents a methodology for applying continuously varying density distributions in Monte Carlo particle transport simulation. The capability is implemented in the Serpent 2 code, as part of an effort for developing a universal multiphysics interface for the coupling of Monte Carlo neutronics to thermal hydraulics and fuel performance codes. The method is based on rejection sampling of particle path lengths, but despite its close resemblance to the Woodcock delta-tracking method, the routine can be used with conventional surface tracking as well. The modified tracking routine is put to the test in a simple boiling water reactor pin-cell calculation with continuously changing void distribution in the coolant channel.
