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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
James M. Broughton, Pui Kuan, David A. Petti, and, E. L. Tolman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 87 | Number 1 | August 1989 | Pages 34-53
Plenary Paper | TMI-2: Materials Behavior / Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A27637
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The primary objective of the U.S. Department of Energy Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) research program, conducted by the EG&G Idaho TMI-2 Accident Evaluation Program, is to develop a comprehensive and consistent understanding of the TMI-2 accident. The accident scenario developed from this research is presented, including information relative to (a) the progression of core damage leading to a consolidated region of partially molten core material, (b) continued heatup of this consolidated region leading to extensive melting of the core, (c) failure of the supporting crust encasing the molten core material and relocation of 15 to 20 tonnes of molten core material into upper and lower core support assemblies and the lower plenum, and (d) interaction of molten core material with coolant and support structures in the lower plenum. Fission product release from fuel during the accident is also discussed.
