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Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
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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.”
Uuganbayar Otgonbaatar, Emilio Baglietto, Neil Todreas
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 184 | Number 3 | November 2016 | Pages 430-440
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE16-9
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The measurement of the steam generator feedwater mass flow rate is a dominant source of uncertainty in the nominal thermal power calculation of a plant. In this paper, mass flow rate measurement by means of an orifice plate is considered. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulation was performed using the computational fluid dynamics code STAR-CCM+ to quantify the representativeness uncertainty of mass flow rate measured in a dedicated experimental configuration. The representativeness uncertainty arises from applying the tolerance values prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard in non-straight piping geometries. The simulation results were compared with the test results and the uncertainty bounds prescribed by the ISO standard, demonstrating the feasibility of applying RANS in an industrial setting for sub-1% uncertainty applications. The RANS results were also used to identify the variability in the measurement result with respect to the angular location of the pressure tap used in the flow rate measurement. Second, a large eddy simulation (LES) was performed on a straight piping configuration to simulate unsteady coherent flow shedding at the orifice plate. The spectral results of LES were compared with data from a test. The time-averaged LES results are within 0.1% of the value prescribed by the ISO standard. Direct comparison of the temporal spectrum of the LES result to the test data is not possible due to the measurement technique. This work is a part of a wider effort to develop a methodology to characterize, assess, and quantify representativeness uncertainty in performance indicator measurements of plants. Spatial, temporal, and modeling representativeness uncertainties are presented in this current work.