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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.”
Yasunori Nakai, Kazuyuki Noborio, Yuto Takeuchi, Ryuta Kasada, Yasushi Yamamoto, Satoshi Konishi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 2 | August 2013 | Pages 379-383
Alternate Concepts/Applications | Proceedings of the Twentieth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE-2012) (Part 1), Nashville, Tennessee, August 27-31, 2012 | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A18106
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An application of a cylindrical discharge tube type fusion neutron beam source for medical purpose was investigated. Practicality and possibility of the medical irradiation plan were evaluated from the standpoint of engineering and medicine.Cancer treatment by BNCT (Boron Neutron Capture Therapy) was selected as an effective application to take advantage of this neutron source. Neutron transport in a phantom was calculated with the MCNP5 (Monte Carlo Neutron Particle calculation code version5), and the distribution of dose on the affected part medicated with a boron agent suggested satisfactory focusing.Since this neutron source is small size, it is designed to irradiate the affected part from many directions by crossfire irradiation. Flexibility of attitude and operation modes permits irradiation in a supine position from arbitrary directions. Because of low neutron flux, irradiation therapy is planned for multi-fractionation in a manner similar to CHART (Continuous Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radio Therapy). Crossfire irradiation and CHART will allow us to achieve new cancer therapy with a relatively lower dose rate than conventional BNCT. It causes apoptosis selectively to a cancer cell, reducing side effects and a patient's recuperation burden. This result suggests the possibility of advanced cancer treatment which improves QOL (Quality of Life) of the patients.