Kenneth Nichols
Encyclopedia
Kenneth David "Nick" Nichols (13 November 1907 – 21 February 2000) was a United States Army
officer and an engineer. He worked on the Manhattan Project
which developed the Atomic Bomb during World War II
as Deputy District Engineer and then District Engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District. He was responsible for both the uranium production facility at the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge, Tennessee
and the plutonium production facility at Hanford Engineer Works
.
Nichols remained with the Manhattan Project after the war until it was taken over by the Atomic Energy Commission
in 1947. He was military liaison officer with the Atomic Energy Commission from 1946 to 1947. After briefly teaching at West Point, he was promoted to major general and became chief of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
, responsible for the military aspects of atomic weapons, including logistics, handling and training. He was deputy director for the Atomic Energy Matters, Plans and Operations Division of the Army's general staff, and was the senior Army member of the military liaison committee that worked with the Atomic Energy Commission.
In 1950, General Nichols became deputy director of the guided missile
s division of the Department of Defense
. He was appointed chief of research and development when it was reorganized in 1952. In 1953, he became the general manager of the Atomic Energy Commission, where he promoted the construction of nuclear power plants. He played a key role in the proceedings
brought against J. Robert Oppenheimer, that resulted in Oppenheimer's security clearance being revoked. In later life, Nichols became an engineering consultant on private nuclear power plants.
, which later became part of Cleveland, Ohio
, one of four children of Wilbur L. Nichols and his wife May née Colbrumn. He graduated fifth in his class at the United States Military Academy
at West Point in 1929 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant
in the United States Army Corps of Engineers
. In 1929, he went to Nicaragua
as part of an expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel
Daniel I. Sultan whose purpose was to conduct a survey for the Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal. Here he first met First Lieutenant
Leslie Groves
, a fellow officer in the expedition. For his service on the expedition, Nichols was awarded the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit "For exceptional service rendered the Republic of Nicaragua."
Nichols returned to the United States in 1931 and went to Cornell University
, where he received a bachelor's degree
in civil engineering
. He became assistant to the Director of the Waterways Experiment Station
in Vicksburg, Mississippi
in June 1932. In August he continued his studies at Cornell where he completed his master's degree
in civil engineering. While at Cornell he married Jacqueline Darrieulat. Their marriage produced a daughter and a son. He returned to the Waterways Experiment Station in 1933. The next year he received a fellowship awarded by the Institute of International Education to study European Hydraulic Research Methods for a year at the Technische Hochschule
in Berlin
. The thesis he wrote won an American Society of Civil Engineers
award. While there he was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 October 1934. On returning to the United States he received another one year posting to the Waterways Experiment Station. From September 1936 to June 1937 he was a student officer at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He then became a student again, using his Technische Hochschule thesis as the basis for a Doctor of Philosophy
degree from the State University of Iowa. He became an instructor at West Point in August 1937, where he was promoted to captain on 13 June 1939.
James C. Marshall summoned Nichols to the Syracuse
District to become area engineer in charge of construction of the Rome, New York
Air Depot
. He was promoted to major
on 10 October 1941 and lieutenant colonel
on 1 February 1942, when Marshall asked him to take on additional responsibility as area engineer in charge of construction of a new TNT plant, the Pennsylvania Ordnance Works, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
. On this project, Nichols worked with DuPont
and Stone & Webster
as major contractors, and dealt with Leslie Groves, now the colonel in charge of military construction.
In June 1942, Nichols was again summoned by Marshall, this time to Washington, D.C.
. Marshal had recently been appointed as district engineer of the new Manhattan District and had received authorization to staff it by drawing on officers and civilians working for the Syracuse District, which was now winding down as the major part of its construction program was nearing completion. Marshall started by designating Nichols as his Deputy District Engineer, which became effective when the Manhattan District was officially formed on 16 August 1942.
The first major decision confronting the new district, which unlike other engineer districts had no geographic limits, was the choice of construction site. On 30 June Nichols and Marshall set out for Tennessee
, where they met with officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority
and looked over prospective sites in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains
that had been identified by scouts from the Office of Scientific Research and Development
that combined the desirable attributes of power, water and transportation with sparse population. A site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee
was chosen, but Marshall delayed purchase while he awaited scientific results that justified a full-scale plant. Afterwards, Nichols visited the Metallurgical Laboratory
or "Met Lab" at the University of Chicago
, where he met with Arthur Compton
. Seeing the problems of crowding there, Nichols, on his own authority, arranged for a new experimental site to be established in the Argonne Forest
which would eventually become the Argonne National Laboratory
.
Nichols took charge of ore procurement. He arranged with the State Department for export controls to be placed on uranium oxide
and negotiated with Edgar Sengier
for the purchase of 1,200 tons of ore from the Belgian Congo
in a warehouse on Staten Island
. Nichols arranged with the Eldorado Mining and Refining Company for the purchase of ore from its mine in Port Hope, Ontario
and its shipment in 100-ton lots. Nichols met with Undersecretary of the Treasury
Daniel W. Bell
and arranged for the transfer of 14,700 tons of silver
from the West Point Depository for use in the Y-12 National Security Complex
in place of copper
, which was in desperately short supply in wartime.
In September 1942, Brigadier General
Leslie R. Groves, Jr assumed command of the Manhattan Project
. Groves immediately moved on the most urgent issues. He promptly approved the purchase of the site at Oak Ridge and negotiated for the project to be given a AAA priority rating. Groves soon decided to establish his project headquarters on the fifth floor of the New War Department Building in Washington, D.C., where Marshall had maintained a liaison office.
Nichols, who concentrated his attention on ore procurement, feed materials and the plutonium
project, was promoted to colonel
on 22 May 1943. On 13 August, he replaced Marshall as district engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District. As District Engineer, Nichols was responsible for both the uranium production facility at the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge and the plutonium production facility at the Hanford site
. One of his first task as district engineer was to move the district headquarters to Oak Ridge, Tennessee
, although its name did not change. For his wartime work on the Manhattan Project, Nichols was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal
by the United States Secretary of War
, Robert P. Patterson
.
Thomas Farrell, Nichols became Groves' deputy, although he also continued as district engineer. Asked to spend more time on weapons production and storage, Nichols established a new underground assembly plant at the Mound Laboratories
in Miamisburg, Ohio
, and recommended that Sandia Base
be transferred from the United States Army Air Corps
to the Manhattan District. In December, Nichols recommended the closing down of the alpha tracks of the Y-12 plant, thereby cutting the payroll from 8,600 to 1,500 and saving $2 million a month. Henceforth, uranium enrichment would be performed by the gaseous diffusion
plants, the wartime K-25
and the new K-27, which had commenced operation in January 1946.
Nichols kept the national laboratories
going with $60 million worth of research grants for fiscal year 1947. He helped Captain Hyman G. Rickover
train a team of naval engineers at Oak Ridge to become experts in nuclear propulsion. In June 1946, Nichols went to Bikini Atoll
to represent the Manhattan Project at Operation Crossroads
, a series of nuclear weapon
s tests conducted to investigate their effects on warships. Like many of his contemporaries, Nichols was reduced in rank on 30 June 1946, reverting to his substantive rank of lieutenant colonel. On return from Bikini, he found that he had been made an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
In February 1947 Nichols was appointed Professor of Mechanics at West Point, but in April 1948, he was appointed to command the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
, with the rank of major general, the youngest in the Army at the time. Although his rank entitled him to quarters at Fort Myer, Virginia, the
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
, General
Omar Bradley
advised him not to ask for them as there had been criticism from some senior colonels. Nichols also became Senior Army Member of the Military Liaison Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC), and Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff of the Army (G-3) for Atomic Energy.
In his new role Nichols clashed with the AEC over the issue of whether it or the Department of Defense
should have custody of nuclear weapons. The administration's policy remained firmly in favor of AEC control. This was tested during the Berlin Blockade
, when President
Harry S. Truman
ordered nuclear-armed B-29 bombers to Europe. For a time there was talk of calling off the Operation Sandstone
nuclear weapons tests, but Nichols successfully argued for their continuation. In 1950, he became deputy director of the guided missile
s division of the Department of Defense, overseeing the Nike Project. He was appointed chief of research and development when it was reorganized in 1952. Nichols retired from the Army on 31 October 1953. For his services from 1948 to 1953, he was belatedly awarded a second Distinguished Service Medal in 1956.
Nichols became General Manager of the AEC on 2 November 1953. In this capacity he initiated the AEC Personnel Security Board hearing
on the loyalty and trustworthiness of atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. In a harshly worded memorandum to the AEC on 12 June 1954, subsequent to the hearing, Nichols recommended that Oppenheimer's security clearance not be reinstated. In five "security findings," Nichols said that Oppenheimer was "a Communist in every sense except that he did not carry a party card," and that he "is not reliable or trustworthy." The commission agreed, and Oppenheimer was stripped of his security clearance. A second scandal was the Dixon-Yates contract
, a political controversy that became a major issue in the 1954 elections, resulting in Nichols appearing before a United States Senate
subcommittee.
, specializing in commercial atomic energy research and development. His clients included Alcoa
, Gulf Oil
, Westinghouse Electric Corporation
and the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station. Nichols was involved with the construction of the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station, the first privately owned pressurised-water plant, and the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
, which commenced operation in 1961 and 1968 respectively. They were both experimental and not expected to be competitive with coal and oil, but later became competitive with inflation and large increases in coal and oil prices. He was critical of over-regulation and protracted hearings, which meant that by the 1980s similar boiling-water or pressurised-water plants took almost twice as long to build in the United States as in France, Japan, Taiwan or South Korea.
Nichols died of respiratory failure on 21 February 2000 at the Brighton Gardens retirement home in Bethesda, Maryland
. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
. His papers are in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
officer and an engineer. He worked on the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
which developed the Atomic Bomb during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as Deputy District Engineer and then District Engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District. He was responsible for both the uranium production facility at the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
and the plutonium production facility at Hanford Engineer Works
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
.
Nichols remained with the Manhattan Project after the war until it was taken over by the Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
in 1947. He was military liaison officer with the Atomic Energy Commission from 1946 to 1947. After briefly teaching at West Point, he was promoted to major general and became chief of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
The Armed Forces Special Weapons Project was a United States military agency responsible for those aspects of nuclear weapons remaining under the military after the the Manhattan Project was succeeded by the Atomic Energy Commission on 1 January 1947...
, responsible for the military aspects of atomic weapons, including logistics, handling and training. He was deputy director for the Atomic Energy Matters, Plans and Operations Division of the Army's general staff, and was the senior Army member of the military liaison committee that worked with the Atomic Energy Commission.
In 1950, General Nichols became deputy director of the guided missile
Guided Missile
Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....
s division of the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. He was appointed chief of research and development when it was reorganized in 1952. In 1953, he became the general manager of the Atomic Energy Commission, where he promoted the construction of nuclear power plants. He played a key role in the proceedings
Oppenheimer security hearing
The Oppenheimer security hearing was a 1954 inquiry by the United States Atomic Energy Commission into the background, actions and associations of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who had headed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb for the United States during World War...
brought against J. Robert Oppenheimer, that resulted in Oppenheimer's security clearance being revoked. In later life, Nichols became an engineering consultant on private nuclear power plants.
Early life
Kenneth David Nichols was born on 13 November 1907 in West Park OhioWest Park, Cleveland
Kamm's Corners is a neighborhood on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is roughly bounded by the Rocky River on the west, I-90 and the city of Lakewood to the north, the New York Central Railroad tracks Kamm's Corners is a neighborhood on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is roughly bounded by...
, which later became part of Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, one of four children of Wilbur L. Nichols and his wife May née Colbrumn. He graduated fifth in his class at the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point in 1929 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
. In 1929, he went to Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
as part of an expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
Daniel I. Sultan whose purpose was to conduct a survey for the Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal. Here he first met First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
Leslie Groves
Leslie Groves
Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves, Jr. was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II. As the son of a United States Army chaplain, Groves lived at a...
, a fellow officer in the expedition. For his service on the expedition, Nichols was awarded the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit "For exceptional service rendered the Republic of Nicaragua."
Nichols returned to the United States in 1931 and went to Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, where he received a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
. He became assistant to the Director of the Waterways Experiment Station
Waterways Experiment Station
The Engineer Research and Development Center ' is a US Army Corps of Engineers laboratory organization whose mission is to "Provide science, technology, and expertise in engineering and environmental sciences in support of our Armed Forces and the Nation to make the world safer and better." The...
in Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
in June 1932. In August he continued his studies at Cornell where he completed his master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in civil engineering. While at Cornell he married Jacqueline Darrieulat. Their marriage produced a daughter and a son. He returned to the Waterways Experiment Station in 1933. The next year he received a fellowship awarded by the Institute of International Education to study European Hydraulic Research Methods for a year at the Technische Hochschule
Technische Hochschule
Technische Hochschule is what an Institute of Technology used to be called in German-speaking countries, as well as in the Netherlands, before most of them changed their name to Technische Universität or Technische Universiteit in the 1970s and in the...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The thesis he wrote won an American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
award. While there he was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 October 1934. On returning to the United States he received another one year posting to the Waterways Experiment Station. From September 1936 to June 1937 he was a student officer at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He then became a student again, using his Technische Hochschule thesis as the basis for a Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree from the State University of Iowa. He became an instructor at West Point in August 1937, where he was promoted to captain on 13 June 1939.
World War II
In June 1941, ColonelColonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
James C. Marshall summoned Nichols to the Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
District to become area engineer in charge of construction of the Rome, New York
Rome, New York
Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but...
Air Depot
Griffiss Air Force Base
Griffiss Air Force Base, is a former United States Air Force base, located in Rome, New York, about NW of Utica. Missions at Griffiss AFB included fighter interceptors, electronic research, installation, and support activities, aerial refueling, and bombers...
. He was promoted to major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
on 10 October 1941 and lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
on 1 February 1942, when Marshall asked him to take on additional responsibility as area engineer in charge of construction of a new TNT plant, the Pennsylvania Ordnance Works, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
. On this project, Nichols worked with DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
and Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster is an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Stone & Webster was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles Stone and Edwin Webster in 1889. It was acquired by The Shaw Group in 2000. The company...
as major contractors, and dealt with Leslie Groves, now the colonel in charge of military construction.
In June 1942, Nichols was again summoned by Marshall, this time to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Marshal had recently been appointed as district engineer of the new Manhattan District and had received authorization to staff it by drawing on officers and civilians working for the Syracuse District, which was now winding down as the major part of its construction program was nearing completion. Marshall started by designating Nichols as his Deputy District Engineer, which became effective when the Manhattan District was officially formed on 16 August 1942.
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, where they met with officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
and looked over prospective sites in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains
Cumberland Mountains
The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in southern West Virginia, western Virginia, eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the Crab Orchard Mountains...
that had been identified by scouts from the Office of Scientific Research and Development
Office of Scientific Research and Development
The Office of Scientific Research and Development was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1941, and it was created formally by on June 28, 1941...
that combined the desirable attributes of power, water and transportation with sparse population. A site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
was chosen, but Marshall delayed purchase while he awaited scientific results that justified a full-scale plant. Afterwards, Nichols visited the Metallurgical Laboratory
Metallurgical Laboratory
The Metallurgical Laboratory or "Met Lab" at the University of Chicago was part of the World War II–era Manhattan Project, created by the United States to develop an atomic bomb...
or "Met Lab" at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he met with Arthur Compton
Arthur Compton
Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery of the Compton effect. He served as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.-Early years:...
. Seeing the problems of crowding there, Nichols, on his own authority, arranged for a new experimental site to be established in the Argonne Forest
Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve
Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve is a forest preserve in southern DuPage County. It is known for its waterfall, which actually is a dam, which is in its ravine. It completely surrounds Argonne National Laboratory...
which would eventually become the Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
.
Nichols took charge of ore procurement. He arranged with the State Department for export controls to be placed on uranium oxide
Uranium oxide
Uranium oxide is an oxide of the element uranium.The metal uranium forms several oxides:* Uranium dioxide or uranium oxide * Uranium trioxide or uranium oxide...
and negotiated with Edgar Sengier
Edgar Sengier
Edgar Sengier was the director of the Belgian Union Minière du Haut Katanga during World War II. Sengier is credited with giving the American government access to much of the uranium necessary for the Manhattan Project...
for the purchase of 1,200 tons of ore from the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
in a warehouse on Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. Nichols arranged with the Eldorado Mining and Refining Company for the purchase of ore from its mine in Port Hope, Ontario
Port Hope, Ontario
Port Hope is a municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, about east of Toronto and about west of Kingston. It is located at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in the west end of Northumberland County...
and its shipment in 100-ton lots. Nichols met with Undersecretary of the Treasury
United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
The Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, in the United States government, advises and assists the Secretary of the Treasury in the supervision and direction of the Department of the Treasury and its activities, and succeeds the Secretary in his absence, sickness, or unavailability...
Daniel W. Bell
Daniel W. Bell
Daniel W. Bell was an American civil servant and businessman. Born in Kinderhook, Illinois, he was acting director of the Bureau of the Budget from September 1, 1934 until April 14, 1939....
and arranged for the transfer of 14,700 tons of silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
from the West Point Depository for use in the Y-12 National Security Complex
Y-12 National Security Complex
The Y-12 National Security Complex is a United States Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory...
in place of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, which was in desperately short supply in wartime.
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Leslie R. Groves, Jr assumed command of the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
. Groves immediately moved on the most urgent issues. He promptly approved the purchase of the site at Oak Ridge and negotiated for the project to be given a AAA priority rating. Groves soon decided to establish his project headquarters on the fifth floor of the New War Department Building in Washington, D.C., where Marshall had maintained a liaison office.
Nichols, who concentrated his attention on ore procurement, feed materials and the plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
project, was promoted to colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
on 22 May 1943. On 13 August, he replaced Marshall as district engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District. As District Engineer, Nichols was responsible for both the uranium production facility at the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge and the plutonium production facility at the Hanford site
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
. One of his first task as district engineer was to move the district headquarters to Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
, although its name did not change. For his wartime work on the Manhattan Project, Nichols was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal (Army)
The Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Army that is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States military, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great...
by the United States Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
, Robert P. Patterson
Robert P. Patterson
Robert Porter Patterson was the United States Under Secretary of War under President Franklin Roosevelt and the United States Secretary of War under President Harry S. Truman from September 27, 1945 to July 18, 1947....
.
Post war
Nichols was promoted to brigadier general on 22 January 1946. Following the departure of Major GeneralMajor general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Thomas Farrell, Nichols became Groves' deputy, although he also continued as district engineer. Asked to spend more time on weapons production and storage, Nichols established a new underground assembly plant at the Mound Laboratories
Mound Laboratories
Mound Laboratories in Miamisburg, Ohio was an Atomic Energy Commission facility for Nuclear weapon research during the Cold War....
in Miamisburg, Ohio
Miamisburg, Ohio
Miamisburg is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,181 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, and recommended that Sandia Base
Sandia Base
Sandia Base was, from 1946 to 1971, the principal nuclear weapons installation of the United States Department of Defense. It was located on the southeastern edge of Albuquerque, New Mexico...
be transferred from the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
to the Manhattan District. In December, Nichols recommended the closing down of the alpha tracks of the Y-12 plant, thereby cutting the payroll from 8,600 to 1,500 and saving $2 million a month. Henceforth, uranium enrichment would be performed by the gaseous diffusion
Gaseous diffusion
Gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride through semi-permeable membranes. This produces a slight separation between the molecules containing uranium-235 and uranium-238 . By use of a large cascade of many stages, high separations...
plants, the wartime K-25
K-25
K-25 is a former uranium enrichment facility of the Manhattan Project which used the gaseous diffusion method. The plant is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on the southwestern end of the Oak Ridge Reservation.-History:...
and the new K-27, which had commenced operation in January 1946.
Nichols kept the national laboratories
United States Department of Energy National Laboratories
The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers are a system of facilities and laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy for the purpose of advancing science and helping promote the economic and defensive national interests of the United...
going with $60 million worth of research grants for fiscal year 1947. He helped Captain Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman George Rickover was a four-star admiral of the United States Navy who directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of Naval Reactors...
train a team of naval engineers at Oak Ridge to become experts in nuclear propulsion. In June 1946, Nichols went to Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
to represent the Manhattan Project at Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
, a series of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s tests conducted to investigate their effects on warships. Like many of his contemporaries, Nichols was reduced in rank on 30 June 1946, reverting to his substantive rank of lieutenant colonel. On return from Bikini, he found that he had been made an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
In February 1947 Nichols was appointed Professor of Mechanics at West Point, but in April 1948, he was appointed to command the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
The Armed Forces Special Weapons Project was a United States military agency responsible for those aspects of nuclear weapons remaining under the military after the the Manhattan Project was succeeded by the Atomic Energy Commission on 1 January 1947...
, with the rank of major general, the youngest in the Army at the time. Although his rank entitled him to quarters at Fort Myer, Virginia, the
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
The Chief of Staff of the Army is a statutory office held by a four-star general in the United States Army, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army; and is in...
, General
General (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
Omar Bradley
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley was a senior U.S. Army field commander in North Africa and Europe during World War II, and a General of the Army in the United States Army...
advised him not to ask for them as there had been criticism from some senior colonels. Nichols also became Senior Army Member of the Military Liaison Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
(AEC), and Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff of the Army (G-3) for Atomic Energy.
In his new role Nichols clashed with the AEC over the issue of whether it or the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
should have custody of nuclear weapons. The administration's policy remained firmly in favor of AEC control. This was tested during the Berlin Blockade
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
, when President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
ordered nuclear-armed B-29 bombers to Europe. For a time there was talk of calling off the Operation Sandstone
Operation Sandstone
Operation Sandstone was a series of nuclear weapon tests in 1948. It was the third series of American tests, following Crossroads and preceding Ranger...
nuclear weapons tests, but Nichols successfully argued for their continuation. In 1950, he became deputy director of the guided missile
Guided Missile
Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....
s division of the Department of Defense, overseeing the Nike Project. He was appointed chief of research and development when it was reorganized in 1952. Nichols retired from the Army on 31 October 1953. For his services from 1948 to 1953, he was belatedly awarded a second Distinguished Service Medal in 1956.
Nichols became General Manager of the AEC on 2 November 1953. In this capacity he initiated the AEC Personnel Security Board hearing
Oppenheimer security hearing
The Oppenheimer security hearing was a 1954 inquiry by the United States Atomic Energy Commission into the background, actions and associations of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who had headed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb for the United States during World War...
on the loyalty and trustworthiness of atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. In a harshly worded memorandum to the AEC on 12 June 1954, subsequent to the hearing, Nichols recommended that Oppenheimer's security clearance not be reinstated. In five "security findings," Nichols said that Oppenheimer was "a Communist in every sense except that he did not carry a party card," and that he "is not reliable or trustworthy." The commission agreed, and Oppenheimer was stripped of his security clearance. A second scandal was the Dixon-Yates contract
Dixon-Yates contract
The Dixon-Yates contract was a 1954 contract between the AEC and two private energy companies, Middle South Utilities and the Southern Company to supply 600,000 kilowatts of power to the AEC for their Tennessee plant...
, a political controversy that became a major issue in the 1954 elections, resulting in Nichols appearing before a United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
subcommittee.
Later life
Nichols left the Atomic Energy Commission in 1955 and opened a consulting firm on K StreetK Street (Washington, D.C.)
K Street is a major thoroughfare in the United States capital of Washington, D.C. known as a center for numerous think tanks, lobbyists, and advocacy groups.-Location:...
, specializing in commercial atomic energy research and development. His clients included Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
, Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
, Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
and the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station. Nichols was involved with the construction of the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station, the first privately owned pressurised-water plant, and the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Vermont Yankee is a General Electric boiling water reactor type nuclear power plant currently owned by Entergy. It is located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, and generates 620 megawatts of electricity at full power. The plant began commercial operations in 1972...
, which commenced operation in 1961 and 1968 respectively. They were both experimental and not expected to be competitive with coal and oil, but later became competitive with inflation and large increases in coal and oil prices. He was critical of over-regulation and protracted hearings, which meant that by the 1980s similar boiling-water or pressurised-water plants took almost twice as long to build in the United States as in France, Japan, Taiwan or South Korea.
Nichols died of respiratory failure on 21 February 2000 at the Brighton Gardens retirement home in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. His papers are in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum.