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Conference Spotlight
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.
Tsutomu Sato, Makoto Okamoto, Poong Kim, Yasuhiko Fujii, Otohiko Aizawa
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 2 | March 1991 | Pages 357-363
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29368
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron measurements are conducted during heavy water electrolysis in a glass cell equipped with a palladium cathode and a platinum anode set in separate electrode compartments. The electrolysis shows neutron emission peaks at 5 h (runs 1 and 2) and at 20 h (run 3) after start-up. The neutron emission peaks were clearly detected by independent A and B 3He counter channels; the peak values exceed 3σ. The neutron emissions are confirmed to occur in bursts.
