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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The Frisch-Peierls memorandum: A seminal document of nuclear history
The Manhattan Project is usually considered to have been initiated with Albert Einstein’s letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in October 1939. However, a lesser-known document that was just as impactful on wartime nuclear history was the so-called Frisch-Peierls memorandum. Prepared by two refugee physicists at the University of Birmingham in Britain in early 1940, this manuscript was the first technical description of nuclear weapons and their military, strategic, and ethical implications to reach high-level government officials on either side of the Atlantic. The memorandum triggered the initiation of the British wartime nuclear program, which later merged with the Manhattan Engineer District.
R. L. Savercool, L. C. Cadwallader
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 974-978
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Tritium, Safety, and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A814
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper documents the activities of the US-Japan exchange in the area of personnel safety at magnetic and laser fusion experiments. A near-miss event with a visiting scientist to the US in 1992 was the impetus for forming the Joint Working Group on Fusion Safety. This exchange has been under way for over ten years and has provided many safety insights for both US and Japanese facility personnel at national institutes and at universities. The background and activities of the Joint Working Group are described, including the facilities that have been visited for safety walkthroughs, the participants from both countries, and the main safety issues examined during visits. Based on these visits, some operational safety ideas to enhance experiment safety are given. The near-term future plans of the Safety Monitor Joint Working Group are also discussed.
