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The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.”
M. Budi Setiawan, P. Made Udiyani, S. Kuntjoro, I. Husnayani, T. Surbakti
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 12 | December 2020 | Pages 1945-1950
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1720558
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The use of the RSG-GAS research reactor as a transmutation reactor is analyzed to study its effectiveness for transmuting long-lived fission products (LLFPs), particularly 129I and 99Tc. Both radionuclides selected are assumed as discharged from of a 1000-MW(electric) pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent fuel. If these radionuclides are stored in sustainable geologic disposal, they will require high-cost handling due to their special shielding. In one cycle of PWR1000 operation, the 99Tc produced is 43.7 kg and 129I is 9.5 kg in its spent fuel. Considering reactor safety, the maximum target mass permitted to be transmuted in the RSG-GAS is 3.0 kg for the 99Tc and 5.0 kg for the 129I. In 1 year of (five cycles) operation, the 99Tc and 129I targets would be reduced by 126 and 290 g, respectively. Although it has the potentiality to safely transmute LLFP targets in its core, RSG-GAS requires longer irradiation time (about 20 years) to entirely transmute the targets.
