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Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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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.”
Lance Davis, Ralph Hania, Dennis Boomstra, Dillon Rossouw, Florence Charpin-Jacobs, Jan Uhlir, Martin Maracek, Helmut Beckers, Sebastian Riedel
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 4 | April 2023 | Pages 633-646
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2129951
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Radiolytic fluorine gas production at temperatures of 40°C to 60°C was investigated for the fluoride salts LiF, BeF2, UF4, ThF4, and 71.7LiF-16BeF2-12.3UF4 (FliBe-UF4) by gamma irradiation of powdered samples using spent fuel elements from the High Flux Reactor (HFR) Petten as the irradiation source; work of a similar nature was previously performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the period 1965 to 1995. Gamma irradiation was conducted for just over 41 days, with total absorbed gamma dose ranging from ~45 MGy for the lightest salts to ~170 MGy for ThF4 and UF4. By measuring the gas pressure within salt-filled capsules during irradiation, it was possible to quantify radiolytic gas production for all salt samples except UF4. Production rates are reported as the salt G-values, measured as number of fluorine molecules produced per 100 eV of energy absorbed (molecules F2/100 eV). The G-values of the salts were found to be G(LiF) ~0.004, G(BeF2) ~0.009, G(ThF4) ~0.021, and G(FLiBe-UF4) ~0.005.
