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The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.”
John F. Relyea, David P. Trott, C. V. McIntyre, Craig G. Rieger
Nuclear Technology | Volume 74 | Number 3 | September 1986 | Pages 317-323
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT86-A33834
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Effective diffusion coefficients of tritiated water and chloride (36Cl) were measured in mixtures of crushed basalt and bentonite as functions of temperature (20 to 90°C) and mixture bulk density (1.5 to 1.9 Mg/m3). A quick-freeze technique was used to halt the diffusion process so the tracer distributions could be determined by slicing the core and analyzing slices by liquid scintillation methods. Linear and multiplelinear regression analyses were performed on both data sets. The regression equations were then used to predict diffusion coefficient values outside the range of densities used in these experiments. The predicted values agree very well with published data. Correlation of diffusion coefficients with temperature was highly significant for both elements. Dependence of chloride diffusion on clay density was much larger than for tritium.