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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.”
J.L. Hemmerich
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 2 | March 1992 | Pages 276-281
Tritium Processing | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29757
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A re-evaluation of the characteristics of the intermediate flow regime with simultaneous thermal accommodation has shown the full potential of the Cryogenic Diffusion Pump for Fusion Reactor applications. A device with a characteristic diameter of 1m will have a pumping speed of 150m3s−1 for Deuterium at an inlet pressure of 2 × 10−2 Pa (Reactor Burn phase) and 400m3s−1 at an inlet pressure of 0.1 Pa (Reactor Dwell phase). Simultaneously, it separates impurities, Hydrogen isotopes and Helium and compresses the Helium. The Helium compression ratio (already proven to be ≥25 for 3% Helium in D2) can be further enhanced by additional D2 or He driven Diffusion Pump and Ejector stages. The latter feature will also simplify pumping requirements for the Helium Glow Discharge scenario: recirculation of Helium at 0.1 Pa (driven by D2 or He Ejector) and simultaneous removal of DT and impurities by cryocondensation requires no mechanical pump at all or only small turbomolecular-drag pump combinations for He jet drive. The design offers superior tritium compatibility: all metal, fully bakeable, it avoids use of absorbers and argon for helium pumping, thereby reducing overall tritium inventory both in the pump itself and by replacing major fuel clean-up facilities. The advantages of using the Cryogenic Diffusion Pump in a Fusion Reactor Vacuum System are discussed in detail.
