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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.”
William D. Jacobs, Thong Hang
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 2 | August 2008 | Pages 595-598
Technical Paper | Process Applications | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1885
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Palladium-silver (Pd-Ag) diffusers are mainstays of hydrogen processing. Diffusers separate hydrogen from inert species such as nitrogen, argon or helium. The tubing becomes permeable to hydrogen when heated to more than 250°C and a differential pressure is created across the membrane. The hydrogen diffuses better at higher temperatures. Experimental or experiential results have been the basis for determining or predicting a diffuser's performance. However, the process can be mathematically modeled, and comparison to experimental or other operating data can be utilized to improve the fit of the model. A reliable model-based diffuser system design is the goal which will have impacts on tritium and hydrogen processing.A computer model has been developed to solve the differential equations for diffusion given the operating boundary conditions. The model was compared to operating data for a low pressure diffuser system. The modeling approach and the results are presented in this paper.