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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.”
Mihály Makai, Zoltán Szatmáry
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 177 | Number 1 | May 2014 | Pages 52-67
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE12-97
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the Monte Carlo (MC) method, statistical noise is usually present, and it may become dominant in the calculation of a distribution, usually by iteration, but it is less important in calculating integrals. The subject of the present work is the role of statistical noise in iterations involving stochastic simulation (the MC method). Convergence is checked by comparing two consecutive solutions in the iteration. The statistical noise may randomize or pervert the convergence. We study the probability of convergence and the correct estimation of the variance in a simplified model problem. We also study the statistical properties of the solution to a deterministic problem with a stochastic source obtained from a stochastic calculation. There are iteration strategies resulting in nonconvergence or a randomly stopped iteration.
