ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.”
Y. Perets, R. Harari, E. Sher
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 150 | Number 2 | June 2005 | Pages 237-244
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE05-A2512
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The vapor explosion phenomenon is investigated experimentally for a geometrical arrangement in which a cold liquid (water) jet is injected into a hot liquid surface (tin). Medium-scale experiments using 1 kg of molten tin were performed in an open geometry experiment system. In the first phase of the research, the influence of the injection mass flow rate on the likelihood of vapor explosion was investigated in order to map the various relevant regimes. In the second phase, the influence of some selected parameters on the interaction was studied to characterize the relevant parameters of the vapor explosion phenomenon.The range of the initial tin and water temperatures that leads to vapor explosion has been determined in order to define the thermal interaction zone. It is noticed that vapor explosion can occur at high water temperatures even near the saturation point. The delay time for the explosion to occur and the degree of the interaction violence were correlated with the initial tin and water temperatures. We also clarified the triggering point and noted a correlation between the quench temperature and the likelihood of the vapor explosion occurrence.