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Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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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.”
Youshi Zeng, Wenguan Liu, Wei Liu, Guanghua Wang, Yuan Qian, Nan Qian, Xiaoling Wu, Yu Huang, Shengwei Wu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 4 | April 2019 | Pages 582-591
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1507200
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the Thorium-Based Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR), tritium is produced at a high rate, which results in huge difficulties regarding tritium control. Tritium distributions in a 2-MW liquid-fueled molten salt experimental reactor (TMSR-LF1) were simulated with the TMSR–Tritium Transport Analysis Code (TTAC) (TMSR-TTAC) that was developed for analysis of tritium behaviors in the TMSR. The simulation for normal operation showed that about 60% of the tritium would permeate through the metal walls of the system, 25% of the tritium was removed by the purge gas system, and 15% of the tritium was absorbed on the core graphite. In addition, the effects on tritium distribution of the chemical-redox potential in fuel salt, the tritium permeation behavior through the metal walls, and various tritium removal methods in the TMSR-LF1 have also been simulated. The simulation results based on those conditions are analyzed in this paper to improve the knowledge of tritium behavior in the TMSR-LF1 and to provide reliable methods and strategies for tritium control in the TMSR system.
