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The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
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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.”
C. Mun, L. Cantrel, C. Madic
Nuclear Technology | Volume 164 | Number 2 | November 2008 | Pages 245-254
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A4023
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the case of a hypothetical severe accident in a nuclear pressurized water reactor, the formation of radiotoxic RuO4(g) may occur in the reactor containment building, resulting from the interactions of ruthenium oxide deposits with the oxidizing medium induced by air radiolysis. Consequently, this gaseous ruthenium tetroxide may be dispersed into the environment; therefore, the determination of the ruthenium deposits behavior is of primary importance for nuclear safety studies. An experimental study, performed by the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), using a gamma irradiator cell (EPICUR facility at IRSN/Cadarache) has been carried out in order to obtain experimental data on these interactions. The results showed that radiolytic oxidation of ruthenium oxide deposits leads to the formation of gaseous ruthenium tetroxide to a significant extent. A comparison between the revolatilized Ru fractions obtained experimentally and those obtained by calculations based on the rate laws modeling ozone irradiation effect, established in previous studies, is presented. The disagreement observed is discussed. It appears that the oxidation resulting from air/steam radiolysis products is enhanced in comparison with pure ozone effect.
