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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 Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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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.
F. H. Welch, O. P. Steele III
Nuclear Technology | Volume 47 | Number 2 | February 1980 | Pages 308-311
Technical Paper | Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32434
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Evaporation of sodium from components using heat and vacuum was investigated as a method of sodium removal from liquid-metal fast breeder reactor components. The method was determined to be capable of efficiently cleaning components at temperatures as low as 260 to 315°C and at pressures of ∼1 × 10−3 to 1 × 10−4 Pa. The most rapid cleaning was observed with small crevices, where the sodium is expelled by gases released from the sodium. The method was recommended as a viable process that should be investigated using full-size components.
