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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.”
Takaaki Mochida, Mitsunari Nakamura, Jun-Ichi Yamashita, Hiromi Maruyama, Sakae Muto, Shigeru Kasai
Nuclear Technology | Volume 114 | Number 3 | June 1996 | Pages 308-317
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35235
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The multienrichment boiling water reactor (BWR) initial core design was first applied to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station Unit 5 [1100-MW(electric) BWR] in Japan. This core is designed to improve fuel discharge exposure, capacity factors, and operability. The design study shows that three types of fuel bundles with different enrichments are suitable to achieve the design targets. Three bundle enrichments are selected to simulate each of the following: fresh bundles, once-burned bundles, and twice-burned bundles in the reload core. Although the heterogeneity of multienrichment design increases the complexity of the design analysis, both the initial criticality test and the moderator temperature coefficient measurement showed good agreement with our prediction. Subsequent full-power operation verified the expected core performance. Average discharge exposure for the total initial fuel is ∼10% larger than that for the conventional single-enrichment BWR initial fuel with reinsertion of discharged fuel at the end of the first cycle. These experiences verified the effectiveness of a multienrichment initial core for the improvement of fuel utilization, capacity factors, and operability