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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
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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.”
José Ramón Ramírez Sánchez, John Garcia, R. T. Perry
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 2 | November 2009 | Pages 524-527
Shielding | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 2) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9237
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For environmental reasons, it was proposed to remove the lead shielding in the front panel of a glove box and replace it with another material. This technical note shows that steel could be used. Also, the thickness of steel required to maintain acceptable doses to an operator is determined. Computer modeling and analysis show that 3.175 cm (1¼ in.) of steel is required to maintain the same dose to the operator from gamma radiation as 0.635 cm (¼ in.) of lead. However, it was demonstrated that source placement and geometry play a large role in the operator's dose independent of the structural material because of streaming through ports and windows. Because of streaming, the dose received through the metal in the front panel was not the dominant source of radiation to the operator. It was found that 1.5875 cm (5/8 in.) of steel could be used in the panel.