ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.”
Dongjune Chang, Youho Lee (Univ of New Mexico)
Proceedings | Advances in Thermal Hydraulics 2018 | Orlando, FL, November 11-15, 2018 | Pages 343-354
The research for packed Pebble-bed for Fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor, with its advantages of passive safety feature and higher thermal efficiency compared to conventional nuclear power plants, is developing actively by many research institutes. In this study, the authors introduce a new device which has non-invasive type measurements in order to figure out the statistical distribution of temperature and heat transfer performance of randomly packed spherical fuels. This device is made up with a metallic shell of 63.5mm diameter, and it contains a circuit board and battery to drive temperature measurements, wireless data transfer. The circuit board used for receive measured temperature from several K type thermocouples is based on the ATmega328 type Microprocessor (MCU). This board collects temperature at multiple points and send data to the receiver in a wireless way. The authors descript its communication protocol and driving method of the device. After that, the development process for configuring new concept wireless device was explained. In addition, heat generation from the inside of the spherical device was realized by using induction heating and fabric-based heating material. Preliminary results from the experiment on the wireless communication of multiple devices are presented. The statistical distribution of the local heat transfer coefficient for multiple packed-pebbles can be obtained by extending this preliminary experimental method.