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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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.”
M. Sakuma, R. Kozma, M. Kitamura
Nuclear Technology | Volume 113 | Number 1 | January 1996 | Pages 86-99
Technical Paper | Reactor Operation | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35201
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fractal analysis is applied in a variety of research fields to characterize nonstationary data. Here, fractal analysis is used as a tool of characterization in time series. The fractal dimension is calculated by Higuchi’s method, and the effect of small data size on accuracy is studied in detail. Three types of fractal-based anomaly indicators are adopted: (a) the fractal dimension, (b) the error of the fractal dimension, and (c) the chisquare value of the linear fitting of the fractal curve in the wave number domain. Fractal features of time series can be characterized by introducing these three measures. The proposed method is applied to various simulated fractal time series with ramp, random, and periodic noise anomalies and also to neutron detector signals acquired in a nuclear reactor. Fractal characterization can successfully supplement conventional signal analysis methods especially if nonstationary and non-Gaussian features of the signal become important.
