[quote="FM No Static At All Magnetic separation was later abandoned in favor of the more complicated, but more effective, gaseous diffusion method. Due to the copper shortage during WWII, the electromagnets were made from thousands of tons of silver borrowed from the U.S. Treasury
[/quote]
Excellent. Thanks FM.
OK .
http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/rgunn.pdf - thats Abelson's obituary to Ross Gunn - see page 89 90 of Paul's book ist draft. Brown was assigned to the Heat and LIght Div. of the NRL under Dr Edwin Hulbert. Hulbert's assistant was Ross Gunn.
Abelson (remember him) says: "From 1927 to 1947 Gunn was a research physicist on the
staff of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. In 1934 he was
appointed technical adviser for the entire laboratory. In
that role he interacted with important naval personnel. In
March 1939 he wrote a memorandum to Admiral H. G.
Bowen, chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Ships, outlining the
tremendous advantages that could be expected from the
use of atomic energy in submarine propulsion"
and :"d Electricity
Division, superintendent of the Aircraft Electrical Division,
and technical director of the Army-Navy Precipitation Static
Project, as well as technical adviser to the naval administra-
tion. He also fostered development of the liquid thermal
diffusion method for separation of uranium isotopes. This
led to large-scale use of the process by the U.S. Army’s
Manhattan District at Oak Ridge, Tennessee." and
"In 1927 Gunn accepted an offer from the Naval Research
Laboratory to become a research physicist in the Radio
Division. He intended to spend only a few years at the labo-
ratory, but he remained there until 1947. In the pre-war
years the civilian staff was small and the naval officer man-
agement was willing to encourage pioneering basic research
related to radios, the new electronics, and instrumentation
employing vacuum tubes. Gunn was skilled in these areas,
and he interacted well with naval personnel. Within a year
he was promoted to assistant superintendent of the Heat
and Light Division. He was allowed to choose his own agenda.
During the period 1929-33 Gunn published twenty-eight ar-
ticles in the open literature. Most of the items were theo-
retical treatments of natural phenomena, such as terrestrial
and solar magnetism, cosmic rays, and other astrophysical
phenomena. Thirteen of the articles were published in Physical
Review. The remainder appeared in other standard jour-
nals. During this highly productive period Gunn invented
and was subsequently granted seventeen patents on useful
instrumentation. One device was an induction-type electrom-
eter that could produce an induced alternating voltage from
a small free charge. The basic principle was incorporated
in a large number of instruments, including the vibrating
reed electrometer. In addition to these activities, Gunn con-
ducted classified research relevant to naval problems.
In 1934 Gunn was appointed technical adviser for the
entire Naval Research Laboratory." and
:ucted the major part of the investigation.
Immediately after the announcement of the discovery of
uranium fission in early 1939, Ross Gunn became a keen
observer of and participant in developments relevant to
nuclear power. He was particularly interested in its possible
application to propulsion of submarines. Conventional sub-
marines were propelled by batteries, which in turn were
charged by electricity supplied by generators coupled to
diesel engines. These required air. While near the surface
of the ocean, the submarines were vulnerable to detection
and attack.
By mid-1940 it had become evident that the rare
235
U was
fissionable and that a chain reaction creating nuclear power
was likely to be achieved. Gunn learned that I was conduct-
ing experiments on uranium isotope separation and arranged
to provide me with financial support. I was then an em-
ployee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. I obtained
my first tiny isotope separation using equipment manufac-
tured by me, but housed at the National Bureau of Stan-
dards. The method involved liquid thermal diffusion of ura-
nium hexafluoride (UF
6
). The simple apparatus consisted
mainly of three concentric tubes 12 feet long. The inner
tube was heated by steam. A second tube was maintained at
65° C. The third tube served to contain the 65° C cooling
water. The UF occupied the space between the walls of the
inner and middle tubes. Runs on this column were made in April
1941, when a measurable isotope separation was obtained."
And that took place on the Philedphia Naval dockyard. It was secret.
While Lawrence used Radar as a cover story at Crocker, it is not
known what cover story used by Gunn in Philidelphia.
This link between Gunn and Brown is not imaginary. Abelson
directly confirms what Paul has written on pp 89 -90.
Finished.
This is about the 4th time Ive put this all up.
Gunn was into silent submarines. And it seems to be
me was in a position to make use of Brown's work.
Whether Brown sought acknowledgement or not I dont know
Maybe it was for the "good of the service" that he didnt.
See also
"We had the hose turned on us!": Ross Gunn and the Naval Research ...
1939 and Ross Gunn, a research physicist and technical advisor at the Naval Re- ... SCOA, 364-365; Ross Gunn, “The early history of the atomic powered ...
caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/hsps.2003.33.2.217 - Similar pages
Its worth a read.
"Despite his enthusiasm for the assignment, Brown still encountered resistence to his novel ideas...
"I even heard it remarked at one point that Brown's work wasn't worth the powder to blow it up.""
= P.S. page 89-90.
Brown discharged from the Navy in the latter part of 1942.
A study of Ross Gunn's activites may reveal significant events at the same time. While Gunn's early role in reactor grade U enrichment (hence the need to boost his U to weapons grade at Oak ridge via Lawrence's Calutron - which also used a cauldron as part of the assembly - an explosion at the Naval U enrichment plant, which had begun ops in 1939, resulting from Groves hamfisted ignorant intervention, melted bitumen, caused severe burns to personnel. radiation exposure to personnel and it seems to me, required a cover story.
The MP used both methods of U enrichment. Neither methodalone would produce sufficient U for a bomb by 1945. The reactor grade stocks of U created by the Navy "saved the day"
Was there a need to dissociate Brown from the Naval program?
I will not be able to access the internet for the next 4 weeks.
Sighs of relief all round.
"JOSEPH – JAMES AHERN*
“We had the hose turned on us!”: Ross Gunn and the Naval Research
Laboratory’s early research into nuclear propulsion, 1939-1946
Cal U Press.
"Initially liquid thermal diffusion had not been considered a practical method
for isotope separation. Research at four laboratories in the United States had shown
that gaseous thermal diffusion did not give measurable separation. Abelson’s first
columns at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism proved successful. He formally
suggested using liquid thermal diffusion in a 17-page memorandum in September
1940. During this preliminary period he had his salary from the Carnegie
Institution, his equipment from NRL, and laboratory space and a chemist from the.."
Gunn to Briggs, 17 and 27 Oct 1941 - (ie after August 1941)(Maud)
"What finally kept the Navy outside the nuclear research program was an order
by President Roosevelt. When Vannevar Bush, director of the Office of Scientific
Research and Development (OSRD), heard that Groves intended to visit NRL, he
considered it “a mistake.” Bush had recommended the creation of the OSRD
(authorized in June 1941)," "Only a few naval officers and
civilian engineers joined the MED. When the Uranium Committee became the S-
1 Committee of OSRD, all Navy members were dropped.""On June 1, 1941 Abelson became a Navy employee and
transferred his work to NRL’s Anacostia Station" "Around June 1, 1941 the NRL began to construct a small pilot plant with 36-
foot columns next to its Boiler House "Encouraged by these
findings NRL decided to build fourteen 48-foot columns; authorized in July 1942,
the installation was substantially completed by November.13 Since the Navy was
focused on submarine propulsion they chose to use an enrichment method that
would provide quantity over quality." "13. Abelson (ref. 11), 4-5; Philip Abelson, Liquid thermal diffusion (Washington, D.C.,
1946), 23; Notes on statements by Abelson and Gunn, Naval Research Laboratory, 9 Nov
1944, Series I, Henry DeWolf Smyth Papers, APS; Jones (ref. 5), 173.
14. Philip J. Abelson memorandum for Director and files, “Present status of uranium problem—
centrifugal separation of isotopes,” 27 Mar 1942, and “Present status of uranium
problem—centrifugal separation of isotopes,” 14 Jul 1942 [Box 1 / Folder 4]; Harold G.
Bowen to Briggs, 2 Sep 1942 [Box 2 / Folder 5] S-1 Files, RG 227, NACP; Rhodes
Gunn, Memorandum for file, “Production of separated
isotope 235,” 10 Dec 1942 [Box 2 / Folder 5], S-1 Files, RG 227"
Now, what was Gunn to Brown?
Philadelphia Experimental plant
MED blocked or hindered NRL’s acquisition of material.
Philadelphia accident
The Army lacked trained personnel to build and operate the S-50. Groves sent
four civilians and ten Army enlisted men to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for training
in August 1944. The Army personnel were drafted engineering graduates given
the rank of private first class.27 A week after arriving in Philadelphia on September
2, they were involved in the plant’s only accident. At 1:20 p.m. a cylinder of UF6
in the transfer room exploded, fracturing nearby steam pipes. Samuel B. Weir,
“The bottom blew off the bottle, and the gases escaped like a jet, sending
the bottle crashing through the wall of the building.” The mixture of UF6 and
steam created hydrogen fluoride, a very caustic acid.
It caused violent sickness. The men made for showers that had been set up
outside. The injured were taken to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital; thirteen men
had been hurt and two of them died. Although NRL worried about security leaks,
the incident went unnoticed, blending into the regular industrial accidents that
occurred at the Navy Yard during the war. What set the explosion apart was that
the casualties included Army enlisted personnel. The headline in the Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin read, “2 Killed, 9 Hurt by Blast that Blows Out Side of Navy
Yard Building.” The article gave a list of the dead and wounded, and noted that
five soldiers were among the casualties. The article gave no cause for the accident.
The entry in the Yard’s log book read, “[t]he weld of a steel high pressure gas
flask carried away a small building south of Building No. 683. The force of the
escaping gas injured a number of men working in the vicinity, some seriously, and
damaged the side of the frame building in which stored.” The Beacon, the Philadelphia
Navy Yard’s newspaper did not mention the incident.28
The accident halted the training of army personnel in Philadelphia."
28. Dorwart (ref. 21), 187-188; Accidents File, Box 1732A (ref. 27); Abraham (ref. 27);
Log Book, Philadelphia Navy Yard, Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments,
2 Sep-1 Oct 1944, RG 181, NAMA.
Though J W Dunne's ideas in 'An Experiment With Time' and 'The Serial Universe' seem somewhat similar also. And Buckminster Fuller's mutterings in 'Synergetics' about gravity being geometry and the moon literally weighing more on the side farther away from the Earth because it's phase locked. Seems insane, but then he goes and builds real domes, so you have to stop and go 'what the?'
Isn't that like strong and weak nuclear force? Now logically, if we can disturb the cause of gravity, which effect would be felt first? Would the effect between masses or the atomic structure? I postulate the former. Dr. Brown, Kosyrev, Leedskalnin, Tesla, all discovered this phenomena. and they all approached it from difference perspectives. Aspden until quite recently, sided with the postulation that it was electromagnetic in origin, but his most recent work indicates he is leaning to an electrostatic cause.