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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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.”
Takao Hayashi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 78 | Number 3 | September 1987 | Pages 216-226
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A15987
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The heat transport capability of the steam generator (SG) in a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is compared with SGs in other reactor types, for example, in gas-cooled reactors, pressurized water reactors, and liquid-metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs). The comparison is done in the form of q = Q/A (kW/m2), where Q is the reactor thermal output (in kilowatts) and A is the total heat transfer area (in square metres) of the SG. It is found that the HTGR SG has unexpectedly excellent characteristics, in spite of the low expectations of the gas-heating SG. In the area of heat transport capability, the HTGR SG is by no means inferior to (and may be superior to) light water reactors and LMFBRs. The reasons for this are explained and analyzed. The q value directly affects the design of the SG and the reactor, thus having a great impact on the cost of the plant. The greater q value of the HTGR SG lends optimistic views on the economics, at least on the HTGR SG design.
