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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
August 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The Frisch-Peierls memorandum: A seminal document of nuclear history
The Manhattan Project is usually considered to have been initiated with Albert Einstein’s letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in October 1939. However, a lesser-known document that was just as impactful on wartime nuclear history was the so-called Frisch-Peierls memorandum. Prepared by two refugee physicists at the University of Birmingham in Britain in early 1940, this manuscript was the first technical description of nuclear weapons and their military, strategic, and ethical implications to reach high-level government officials on either side of the Atlantic. The memorandum triggered the initiation of the British wartime nuclear program, which later merged with the Manhattan Engineer District.
D. L. Jassby
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 13 | Number 3 | March 1988 | Pages 463-472
Technical Paper | Alpha-Particle Workshop / Nonelectrical Application | doi.org/10.13182/FST88-A25124
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Helium-3 placed in an annular cell or array of cells around a tokamak fusion generator can convert moderated fusion neutrons to energetic ions by the 3He(n, p)T reaction and thereby excite gaseous lasants mixed with the 3He while simultaneously breeding tritium. The required 3He inventory is ∼ 5 kg for large tokamak devices. Special configurations of toroidal field magnets, neutron moderators, and reflectors must be incorporated to maximize the neutron flux in the laser cell. The annular laser radiation can be coupled to an unstable resonator at the top of the tokamak and extracted as a single output beam.