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Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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.”
Md Saifur Rahman, Jie Ding, Ali Beheshti, Xinghang Zhang, Andreas A. Polycarpou
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 193 | Number 9 | September 2019 | Pages 998-1012
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2019.1582315
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study investigates the friction and wear behavior of Inconel 617, one of the primary candidate materials for high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors. Using a custom-built, high-temperature tribometer, a helium (He)-cooled reactor environment was simulated up to 950°C. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the Inconel 617 tribological response, the effects of contact load, temperature, air and He environments, sliding speed, and sliding distance were studied. From the conditions investigated, the coefficient of friction and wear values are the highest in a high-temperature He atmosphere. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques were used to analyze the Inconel 617 oxide layer. Analysis of the samples tested in the He atmosphere showed the presence of Cr-rich oxide with a lower presence of Co-Ni-Mo compared to the samples tested in air. Characterization also revealed the existence of a very hard protective glaze layer in air while such layer was not observed in the He environment, which was associated with higher wear/friction values.