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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.”
B.A. Smith, R.J. Thome, Z. Piek, M.M. Olmstead
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 1183-1188
Ignition Device | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29503
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The assembly features of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) require that the internal coils be modular in nature. Each of the four coils consists of six segments with each segment being U-shaped and integrated with each toroidal field (TF) coil's subassembly. The U-shape enables inter-connection of the segments to be made radially outward of the TF structure in a region serviceable by remote maintenance equipment. Turns in each internal coil segment must be jumpered to the corresponding turn in the adjacent segment. The design of the subassemblies which provide for turn jumpering and lead connection are described. Both employ twelve silver-plated, C15715 or C15725, alumina-dispersion-strengthened copper alloy pins at each turn electrical joint. Full-scale tests on single and multiple C15725 pins have been carried out with relative motion to demonstrate feasibility. Test results to date after 16,000 cycles of 1 mm mechanical motion along the pin axis have demonstrated the ability of each pin to carry the required 3333 A for 20 seconds with a temperature rise from 80 K to less than 300 K. Electrical tests conducted during the mechanical tests showed improved contact resistance with mechanical cycling and at higher currents. Preliminary tests on a modified pin design to reduce insertion force, and using C15715 material, have shown current carrying capability at least as good as the earlier design.