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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.”
H. Y. Khater
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 34 | Number 3 | November 1998 | Pages 614-618
Safety and Environment (Poster Session) | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A11963682
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Activation and Safety analyses were performed for the ARIES-ST design. The ARIES-ST power plant includes a water cooled copper center post and uses a SiC/LiPb blanket. The first wall and shield are made of low activation ferritic steel and cooled with helium. The center post, first wall, inboard shield and blanket were assumed to survive for 2.6 full power years (FPY). On the other hand, the outboard shield and vacuum vessel were assumed to stay in place for 40 FPY. Neutron transmutation of copper resulted in the production of several nickel, cobalt and zinc isotopes. The production of these isotopes resulted an increase of the time-space average resistivity of the center post by about 6% after 2.6 FPY. All of the plant components met the limits for disposal as Class C low level waste (LLW). The off-site doses produced at the onset of an accident are caused by the mobilization of the radioactive inventory present in the plant. Analysis of a Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) indicated that the first wall and shield would reach a maximum temperature of less than 700°C during the accident. The calculated temperature profiles and available oxidation-driven volatility experimental data were used to calculate the dose at the site boundary under conservative release conditions. The current design produces an effective whole body early dose of 1.77 mSv at the site boundary.
