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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.”
Bernhard Kienzler, Peter Vejmelka, Horst-Jürgen Herbert, Herbert Meyer, Corinna Altenhein-Haese
Nuclear Technology | Volume 129 | Number 1 | January 2000 | Pages 101-118
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3049
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experimental findings of full-scale leach tests performed on simulated cemented waste forms and self-shielded concrete waste containers for periods up to 19 yr in saturated salt brines (NaCl- and Q-brine) are presented. Measurements cover the evolution of leachant composition and the release of radionuclides such as Cs, U, and Np. Performance of the waste forms and the self-shielded concrete waste containers depends on the pore volume of the hardened cement/concrete, which is correlated to the water/cement ratio of the waste forms. Cesium release follows a linear time dependence. Samples, especially those having a high pore volume, show almost complete release of Cs in the period of investigation. Uranium release is independent of the leach period. Uranium concentrations are controlled by thermodynamic equilibrium. Neptunium is released only to a small extent; concentrations are close to the detection limit.Modeling of the cement corrosion progress allows the prediction of the evolution of the brines in terms of pH, calcium concentration, etc. and the identification of solids controlling the solubilities of the main components and of uranium.
