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Fusion Science and Technology
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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.”
M. X. Navarro, R. R. Delgado, M. G. Lagally, G. L. Kulcinski, J. F. Santarius
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 4 | November 2017 | Pages 713-718
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1350481
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This technical note describes the use of graphene as a way to protect plasma facing components from erosion, sputtering and diminished plasma performance and to extend component lifetimes in experimental plasma devices. In this work, 30 keV ionized helium is used as a projectile on graphene covered tungsten over a range of fluences. Graphene’s vacancy yield (ID) and natural resonance (IG) are found at ~1350 cm−1 and ~1550 cm−1, respectively. Damage of each sample is quantified using the ID/IG ratio via Raman spectroscopy (RS) at the aforementioned wave numbers. The surface morphology is studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the mass losses are recorded using a high-precision scale. The results from this study are of considerable importance since they indicate that a graphene coating could be an effective candidate for reducing erosion in different PFC materials.