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Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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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.”
Satoshi Takeda, Takanori Kitada
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 195 | Number 5 | May 2021 | Pages 496-508
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2020.1833601
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We developed a cross-section adjustment method based on Bayesian theory for adjusting the independent cross-section set that is given by dividing the cross-section set. While all cross sections have to be adjusted in the conventional cross-section adjustment method, the independent cross-section set can be individually adjusted in the developed method. In addition, the covariance of cross sections that are assumed to be independent of each other is not adjusted in the developed method. The adjusted cross sections and the covariance are the same in both methods. The cross-section adjustment was performed using the criticality of the light water–moderated uranium benchmark. The result shows that the uncertainty of the multiplication factor is reduced from 0.005 to 0.007 Δk/k to 0.003 to 0.005 Δk/k by the developed method. The reduction is smaller than that by the conventional method since the developed method does not adjust the covariance of cross sections that are assumed to be independent of each other.