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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.”
A. Abou-Sena, A. Ying, M. Abdou
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 1 | July 2009 | Pages 206-210
Tritium, Safety, and Environment | Eighteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Part 1) | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A8903
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thermal properties of the lithium ceramics pebble beds have a significant impact on the temperature profile of the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed blanket and the extraction of heat from the pebble beds to the coolant. The literature review showed a lack of experimental data on the interface thermal conductance (h) of lithium metatitanate pebble beds, therefore the objective of this study is to present experimental values of h. The measuring technique is based on the principles of steady state and axial heat flow methods. The lithium metatitanate pebble bed is single size (~O1.7-2.0mm pebbles) with a packing fraction of 61%. The values of h were measured at the interface of the pebbles with their container's wall (made of stainless steel 316). The results showed that h increased from 1800 to 5300W/m2.K with the increase of the wall temperature from 24 to 570°C. The theoretical values of h, calculated by three models, were compared with the experimental values. The theoretical and experimental values of h showed similar behavior with the increase of temperature. The present values of h will help to create a reliable database of the thermal properties of the lithium ceramics pebble beds.
