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The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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.”
E. Eidelpes, L. F. Ibarra (Univ of Utah), R. A. Medina (Univ of New Hampshire)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 195-205
The work presented in this paper is part of investigations on the structural integrity of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) casks after long-term storage and subjected to normal or accidental conditions of transport. The main challenge of this assessment is to account for the time dependent material degradation mechanisms of the cask components. A Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) is used for the overall assessment of the structural integrity of the relevant package components. SNF rod cladding is likely to control structural failure due to mechanical loads, which can be accelerated by hydride related material degradation of fuel rods after long-term storage. Due to limited available experimental data, statistical methods are used to predict the fuel rod conditions between beginning of storage and moment of transport. The value of the Rod Internal Pressure (RIP) appears to be a driving force for the hydride-induced embrittlement. RIP examination data and recent simulations point towards relatively low Cladding Hoop Stresses (CHSs) in standard rods during drying procedures. An exemplary PRA of the likelihood of cladding embrittlement due to Radial Hydride Reorientation (RHR) is presented. The preliminary model indicates a relatively low probability of cladding embrittlement for standard fuel rods.