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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
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.”
Martin R. Williamson, Laurence F. Miller, Indraneel Sen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 177 | Number 3 | March 2012 | Pages 413-420
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and General Information | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A13484
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A methodology for simulating a neutron detector's pulse-height spectra (PHS) utilizing semiempirical equations for the light yield nonproportionality of organic scintillators is described. Using these simulations, suitable material synthesis techniques are established for optimizing the performance of neutron scintillators. A MATLAB program suite was developed to automate the process of generating the PHS by pairing these semiempirical equations with results generated using Monte Carlo radiation transport code (MCNPX) particle track (PTRAC) output files. This is accomplished by first calculating the energy deposited in a detector from each charged-particle reaction product generated from a neutron absorption event by postprocessing the MCNPX PTRAC output files. The energy deposited from each charged particle is then used in semiempirical light yield equations to determine the fluorescent light energy output by each charged particle. Finally, the individual contributions from each charged particle are recombined to accurately simulate the pulse generated from the neutron absorption event.
