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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.”
Marta Velarde, Jose Manuel Perlado
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 43 | Number 3 | May 2003 | Pages 484-491
Technical Paper | Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A295
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The evaluation of the radiological environmental impact of tritium emission to the atmosphere from inertial fusion energy (IFE) reactors has different chronological phases. In the release primary phase, the important factors are the boundary conditions: atmospheric and geometric grid from the point of emission. The second phase occurs when the tritium is deposited in the ground. This phase is important in order to account for the dosimetric effects of tritium, and it is a key factor in the chronic and collective doses of the population.The final internal irradiation dose is calculated as the addition of doses by ingestion, by inhalation of the primary plume, by absorption on the skin, and inhalation by reemission to the atmosphere.Each of the two chemical forms (HT and HTO) of tritium present in the environment from potential IFE reactor releases contributes in different ways to the most exposed individual and the committed effective dose equivalent (50-CEDE). The HTO presents a much larger percentage of the internal irradiation from inhalation and absorption through the skin than HT. However, in releases where HT represents 100%, the contributions to the total effective dose by ingestion and reemission are important.