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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Diana S. West, Kandy J. Frame, Julia Thompson, Lawrence O. Ticknor
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 1 | July 2008 | Pages 178-181
Technical Paper | Tritium Measurement | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1790
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory tritium processing facility purchased an ANTECH Series P300 Isothermal Tritium calorimeter from the ANTECH Corporation in 2005. The instrument is used to nondestructively measure the quantity of tritium in an item based on the heat output generated by tritium beta decay. Instrument performance data collected over the past two years is presented showing that this instrument can detect as low as 0.001 W (0.003 g of tritium) within rather large measurement canisters of approximately 170 mm (6.8 in.) diameter by 610 mm (24 in.) long. With a manufacturerstated measurement power range of 0.005 W to 15 W, this calorimeter has performed beyond the specified purchase requirements. Using a combination of sensors for its thermal element, the P300 calorimeter has demonstrated exceptional sensitivity and precision.
