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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.”
Samim Anghaie, Larry L. Humphries, Nils J. Diaz
Nuclear Technology | Volume 91 | Number 3 | September 1990 | Pages 361-375
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34457
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The differential gamma scattering spectroscopy technique is a novel means of nondestructive testing using Compton scattering to determine local density perturbations in a test sample. The test sample is irradiated with a narrow collimated beam of gamma rays, and the scattered radiation field is detected in a transversely placed high-purity germanium detector. The detector provides excellent energy resolution so that a detailed energy spectrum can be obtained. This spectrum is then subtracted from a reference spectrum that was collected from a well-known, unflawed sample to obtain the differential spectrum. This differential spectrum primarily contains information characterizing the flaw. Using the relationship between the scattering angle and the scattering energy that characterizes Compton scattering, the single-scattered spectrum can be used to determine the location of scattering and, consequently, the density distribution along the portion of the primary beam path that passes through the sample. An attractive feature of this technique that sets it apart from other Compton scattering techniques is the ability to detect flaws both on and off the primary beam path.