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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
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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.”
C. Roecker, N. S. Bowden, G. Carosi, M. Heffner, I. Jovanovic
Nuclear Technology | Volume 180 | Number 2 | November 2012 | Pages 231-240
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and General Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A14636
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Directional detection of fast neutrons emitted by special nuclear materials can be performed with a time projection chamber. This device permits particle identification and full three-dimensional reconstruction of charged-particle tracks produced by interaction of fast neutrons in the chamber active volume. Single-recoil-proton reconstruction allows rapid pointing, while the reconstruction of two recoil protons produced by a single incident neutron event can enable a measurement with very high angular resolution. Kinematic reconstruction algorithms for both of these cases are presented and their performance assessed using data generated by a simple Monte Carlo simulation and experimental data where those exist. The simulation data are also used to estimate the relative efficiency of both neutron imaging modalities as a function of the volume and pressure of the time projection chamber.
