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Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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.”
Jing Wang, Ronald G. Ballinger, Heather J. Maclean
Nuclear Technology | Volume 148 | Number 1 | October 2004 | Pages 68-96
Technical Paper | Materials for Nuclear Systems | doi.org/10.13182/NT04-A3549
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An integrated fuel performance model for coated particle fuel has been developed to comprehensively study the behavior of TRISO-coated fuel. Modeling of both pebble-bed and prismatic configurations is possible. In the case of the pebble-bed concept, refueling of pebbles is simulated to account for the nonuniform environment in the reactor core and history-dependent particle behavior. Monte Carlo sampling of particles is employed in fuel failure prediction to capture the statistical features of dimensions; material properties; and, in the case of the pebble-bed concept, the statistical nature of the refueling process. An advanced fuel failure model has been developed based on a probabilistic fracture mechanics approach. The mechanical analysis includes effects of anisotropic irradiation-induced dimensional changes and isotropic irradiation-induced creep, and the fluence-dependent Poisson ratio in irradiation creep. The stress analysis is benchmarked against the calculations of Japanese High Temperature Test Reactor (HTTR) first-loading fuel and finite element result on one case performed by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The failure model predictions are compared with NPR1, NPR2, and NPR1A capsule irradiation data. The model results compare very favorably with postirradiation examination results both in terms of failure probability, number of failed particles, and Kr85m R/B evolution during irradiation.