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.
Mohamed E. Sawan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 2 | August 2009 | Pages 766-770
Nuclear Analysis | Eighteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A9002
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Data for 40 of the 71 isotopes/elements in FENDL-2.1 were taken from ENDF/B-VI.8. Following the release of ENDF/B-VII.0 we performed a preliminary assessment for changes made in data of these 40 isotopes/elements. We compared the relevant cross sections in the two libraries. In addition, we carried out MCNP calculations for a calculational benchmark representative of an early ITER design that was utilized during the FENDL development process. In addition, we performed 3-D calculations for an inertial fusion power plant conceptual design. It is concluded that modifying FENDL-2.1 to include the most recent ENDF/B-VII.0 is not urgently needed for ITER analysis. On the other hand, the larger changes in calculated ICF target neutronics parameters and tritium breeding ratio confirm the need for updating FENDL-2.1 for use in analysis of fusion systems beyond ITER. Additional calculations are in progress for integral experimental benchmarks to fully understand the impact of data changes introduced in ENDF/B-VII.0.
