ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
Meeting Spotlight
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.”
W. S. Yeung, J. Shirkov, F. Seifaee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 108 | Number 3 | December 1994 | Pages 387-394
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A35021
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The capability of the RELAP5/MOD3 computer code to analyze water hammer transients due to water column rejoining and a water slug propelled by non-condensable gas is investigated. The code-calculated results have been compared with those obtained from simple ideal analytical models. Good agreement is obtained between the calculation and analytical results in the initial period of the transient during which the water column or slug retains its sharp interface and suffers from little breakup or dissipation. As the transient proceeds, the code-calculated hydrodynamic loads are generally less than those implied by the analytical models. This is most likely due to the breakup of the water phase, which is not taken into account in the analytical models. Effects of time step and mesh sizes have also been studied. The results show that the usual Courant time limit applies. Finally, a sample calculation, corresponding to a water hammer transient in a typical Westinghouse four-loop reactor head vent system piping, is presented. The transient is induced by the opening of a relief valve and accelerating a trapped water slug through the pipeline. Hydrodynamic loads (i.e., force-time curves) on various pipe segments have been evaluated by appropriate postprocessing of the transient results. The calculated peak forces at selected pipe segments compare favorably with those estimated from the analytical models.