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Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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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.”
Aaron J. Reynolds, Todd S. Palmer
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 1 | January 2023 | Pages 45-73
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2097565
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We use the deterministic neutron transport code QuasiMolto to simulate steady-state operation of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE). Comparisons are made to similar results from the MOST benchmark, the MOOSE-based code Moltres, and the design calculations for the MSRE. In the course of these comparisons, we calculate a value of 0.1799 for the graphite-to-fuel power density ratio, which differs significantly from that seen in other works. We also find uniform graphite heating inadequate to reproduce the characteristic graphite temperature distribution of the MSRE. Leveraging the multilevel projective methodology of QuasiMolto, the influence of transport effects on the modeled problem is found to produce average and maximum group flux variations of 2% to 5% and 30%, respectively, with a 12% variation in the reactivity loss due to delayed neutron precursor drift.
