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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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.”
Ahmad Al-Rashdan, Troy Unruh, Mitchell A. Plummer, Pattrick Calderoni, Kurt Davis (INL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1319-1323
Silicon carbide (SiC) monitors provide a means of measuring peak irradiation temperature of static capsules in nuclear irradiation experiments. Neutron irradiation of a SiC monitor causes permanent lattice changes that are removed by annealing to a temperature that exceeds the peak irradiation temperature. The annealing process results in changes to SiC physical characteristics that can be observed during the annealing process. This paper presents preliminary results of a method aimed at using electrical resistance, measured during a two-pass heating – cooling cycle as a means of recovering the irradiation temperature of a SiC monitor. Results indicate that the relationship between resistance and temperature of a SiC monitor shows a significant change in slope when the peak irradiation temperature is reached. This demonstrates the potential for this method to replace the current manual, and lengthy, process of post irradiation examination used to extract the peak irradiation temperature from irradiated SiC monitors.
