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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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.”
William S. Charlton, William D. Stanbro
Nuclear Technology | Volume 136 | Number 1 | October 2001 | Pages 24-36
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT01-A3226
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A methodology for determining alternate nuclear material (237Np, 241Am, and 243Am) concentrations in spent nuclear fuel based on the use of various monitors was developed and validated for use with several pressurized water reactor fuels. The monitors studied included the fuel burnup, the total plutonium concentration, the 240Pu/239Pu isotopic ratio, the 148Nd/238U isotopic ratio, and the 137Cs activity. Calculations were performed using the HELIOS-1.4 lattice physics code for spent fuel from the Mihama Unit 3, Genkai Unit 2, and Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 reactors. These calculations were compared to measured values for the fuel. It was determined that the 240Pu/239Pu isotopic ratio and the 137Cs activity were the most useful and accurate for use in predicting alternate nuclear material concentrations at reprocessing facilities for safeguards purposes. Based on these comparisons, it was determined that measurements of these monitors would allow for determination of 237Np, 241Am, and 243Am concentrations to within ±4, ±6, and ±15%, respectively. It is suggested that these uncertainties may be decreased through improvements in measurement techniques and additional benchmarking. These monitors may be used to provide an accurate prediction of the concentrations of the alternate nuclear materials while decreasing the need for direct measurement of these isotopes. This will translate into a monetary savings for reprocessing facility safeguards.
