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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.”
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Dust and debris were collected from the Nova laser facility in April 1999 to provide evidence of particulate generation and transport mechanisms relevant to fusion power safety analyses. Samples were obtained at specified locations within the Nova chamber with a vacuum filter system, cascade impactors, and metallurgical replicating tape (acetate tape). Average surface mass density of material collected from locations with measured surface area ranges from 3.13 μg/cm² on the mid-plane vertical surface to 3250 μg/cm² on the vessel bottom. Estimated total dust inventory is 44 grams. Specific surface area of dust collected from several locations is nearly uniform with an average value of 0.435 m²/g. Particle size distributions of the collected material show a range of count median diameters (CMD) between 0.67 and 1.19 μm with geometric standard deviations (GSD) between 1.63 and 2.76. Mass median diameters for dust collected with the two cascade impactors are 5.26 μm and 8.85 μm. The shape of the volumetric size distribution indicates dust particles of various shapes. Composition analysis performed by energy dispersive X-ray analysis indicated the presence of O, Al, Cu, along with trace quantities of Fe, Au, and Be. Atomic emission ICP analysis also indicated the presence of Si, O, and Cu in dust samples.