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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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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.”
Shih-Jen Wang, Ming-Song Lin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 95 | Number 2 | August 1991 | Pages 156-161
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34553
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The characteristics of xenon dynamics are simulated, and related parameters are identified in the Taiwan Research Reactor. A xenon transient for a 20% stepwise decrease from 85.6% rated power is performed and simulated with design data. The trends in the moderator levels are similar in the test and in the simulation. However, there are discrepancies in the magnitude and shape. Because no reactivity feedback occurs for 2 h after the power change, except for xenon poisoning, a parameter optimization method is applied to identify the migration area and the initial neutron flux by minimizing the integrated square error of the moderator level from 2 to 20 h after the power change. The optimized moderator level fit the test result very well, and the identified parameters are reasonably close to the experimental data.
