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Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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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.”
Taro Ueki, J. E. Hoogenboom, J. L. Kloosterman
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 137 | Number 2 | February 2001 | Pages 117-145
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE01-A2180
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In Monte Carlo correlated coupling, forward and adjoint particle histories are initiated in exactly opposite directions at an arbitrarily placed surface between a physical source and a physical detector. It is shown that this coupling calculation can become more efficient than standard forward calculations. In many cases, the basic form of correlated coupling is less efficient than standard forward calculations. This inherent inefficiency can be overcome by applying a black absorber perturbation to either the forward or the adjoint problem and by processing the product of batch averages as one statistical entity. The usage of the black absorber is based on the invariance of the response flow integral with a material perturbation in either the physical detector side volume in the forward problem or the physical source side volume in the adjoint problem. The batch-average product processing makes use of a quadratic increase of the nonzero coupled-score probability. All the developments have been done in such a way that improved efficiency schemes available in widely distributed Monte Carlo codes can be applied to both the forward and adjoint simulations. Also, the physical meaning of the black absorber perturbation is interpreted based on surface crossing and is numerically validated. In addition, the immediate reflection at the intermediate surface with a controlled direction change is investigated within the invariance framework. This approach can be advantageous for a void streaming problem.