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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.”
J. Mazeika, R. Petrosius, V. Jakimaviciute-Maseliene, D. Baltrunas, K. Mazeika, V. Remeikis, T. Sullivan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 161 | Number 2 | February 2008 | Pages 156-168
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A3920
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The paper presents the long-term safety assessment of the Maisiagala radioactive waste repository (Lithuania) using the advanced computer codes DUST, FEFLOW, and AMBER. The software DUST was employed for calculations of the one-dimensional leaching flux of radionuclides from the repository vault and subsequent transport in the unsaturated zone. Using the mass flux of radionuclides calculated in DUST as a source to the aquifer, the software FEFLOW was used for two-dimensional assessment of activity concentrations of radionuclides in groundwater. Using the groundwater concentrations calculated in FEFLOW, the code AMBER was used to calculate the dose over time at four hypothetical wells downstream from the repository. The well distances ranged from 150 to 1600 m.When the hypothetical drinking water well is installed 150 m from the repository (close to the outside perimeter of the controlled area), the highest effective doses will arise from 3H, 36Cl, and 239Pu. The doses determined by 3H and 36Cl may exceed a dose limit of 1 mSv/yr for 50 to 230 yr after the closure of the facility (1989). The dose of 239Pu will remain almost constant for >60 000 yr after the closure, yet it will not exceed the dose limit value. According to previous studies, the intrusion scenario is much more critical compared to the groundwater exposure pathway in the case of 239Pu (as well as 226Ra).