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Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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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.”
Mohamed S. El-Genk, Huimin Xue
Nuclear Technology | Volume 100 | Number 3 | December 1992 | Pages 271-286
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34724
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The natural-circulation decay heat removal capability of a 550-kW(electric) SP-100 reactor power system for a lunar outpost is investigated. A transient thermal-hydraulic model of the decay heat removal loop (DHRL) is developed to investigate the effects of the radiator surface area, the dimensions and elevation of the decay heat exchanger (DHE), and the diameter of the rise and down pipes on the passive decay heat removal of the system. The effect of gravity is also investigated in order to examine the applicability of earth-based test results to the actual system on the lunar surface. Results show that natural circulation of lithium coolant in the DHRL would keep the SP-100 reactor safely coolable after shutdown. However, the lithium coolant in the adiabatic rise pipe, directly downstream from the reactor core, could overheat by as much as 175 K above its nominal operation value of 1355 K at ∼200 s after shutdown. This coolant temperature increase can be reduced by as much as 50 K by increasing the height of the DHE duct to 15 cm; a further increase in the duct height would have little effect on the decay heat removal. Increasing the elevation of the DHE slightly improves the decay heat removal. Results also show that the maximum coolant temperature in the DHRL and the maximum fuel temperature in the reactor core at 1 g could be as much as 140 and 50 to 100 K lower than their values on the lunar surface, respectively. Conversely, the coolant flow rate could be more than twice that occurring on the lunar surface after reactor shutdown.