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Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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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!
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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.”
Liaquat Ali Khan, Nasir Ahmad
Nuclear Technology | Volume 119 | Number 2 | August 1997 | Pages 201-210
Technical Note | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT97-A35387
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effect of operating cycle and fuel burnup on the isotopic composition and decay characteristics of irradiated nuclear fuel has been investigated using a standard computer code, KORIGEN. The parameters studied include isotopic compositions of actinides; activities due to the actinides, fission products, and light elements; decay heat; and the spontaneous fission neutron source. Calculations have been performed for a typical swimming pool-type research reactor, using materials test reactor-type low-enriched uranium fuel, for four different operating cycles. A fuel burnup range of 5 to 35% has been considered. The cooling time ranged from a fraction of a second to thousands of years. Results indicate that the amount of plutonium produced is strongly dependent on fuel burnup. It is not significantly affected by the operating cycle. The operating history of the reactor has a strong influence on fission product inventory and decay heat. The main contributors to activity and decay heat for the first two to three centuries are fission products; thereafter, actinides are the main contributors. The activity and decay heat drop drastically during the first day after shutdown. Both alpha activity and the spontaneous fission neutron source are strongly dependent on the operating cycle and fuel burnup. These increase with an increase in the fuel burnup but decrease for a longer power-on cycle.