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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.”
Rebecca Pachuau, B. Lalremruata, N. Otuka, L. R. Hlondo, L. R. M. Punte, H. H. Thanga
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 187 | Number 1 | July 2017 | Pages 70-80
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2017.1291053
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recently, we measured the 70Zn(n,γ)71Znm activation cross sections using the 7Li(p,n)7Be neutron source for 2.0 MeV < Ep < 3.7 MeV. Since the time-of-flight and multiple foil activation techniques cannot be applied due to the continuous beam structure and weak neutron flux at the facility, we have to rely on calculated neutron energy spectra for data reduction procedure. There are existing Monte Carlo–based codes such as Protons In Neutrons Out (PINO) and SimLiT for calculation of 7Li(p,n)7Be neutron source spectra at these energies. However, these two codes predicted different neutron spectra at these energy regions. We therefore decided to study the thick and thin target 7Li(p,n)7Be neutron spectra from the reaction threshold to the three-body breakup threshold by deterministic calculation. The predicted neutron spectra near threshold were validated by experimental neutron spectra. Our neutron spectra were compared with those predicted by PINO and SimLiT. Our neutron spectra at Ep = 2.8 and 3.5 MeV agree perfectly with those predicted by SimLiT but not with those predicted by PINO.