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
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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.”
D. Rozzia, G. Bonny, S. Billiet, B. Boer, M. Verwerft
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 2 | February 2024 | Pages 324-353
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2229186
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents the fuel performance simulation of two past experiments that are concerned with partial fuel melting. The activity is conducted in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency Power to Melt and Maneuverability (P2M) – Second Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES-II) Joint ExpErimental Programme (JEEP). The xM3 transient experiment involved uranium oxide (UO2) fuel with a ZIRconium Low Oxidation alloy (ZIRLO) cladding base irradiated up to 27 MWd/kg U, followed a ramp test up to 70 kW/m leading to inception of melting. The High Burnup Chemistry Experiment 4 (HBC4) transient was performed according to a rapid power ramp, on a UO2 fuel with a Zircaloy-4 cladding base irradiated up to 47 MWd/kg U. The linear heat generation rate reached 66.3 kW/m at the end of the transient leading to inception of melting and rodlet failure. Three main cases per each of the two transients were modeled with the TRANSURANUS code version 2015 in agreement with the benchmark specifications to consider uncertainty on the power during the ramping phases. The paper presents and discusses the analysis of these tests and provides an in-depth sensitivity analysis to assess the capabilities of the code as well as the effect of user choices in simulating the base irradiation and the inception of melting in light water reactor fuel rods.
