Electromagnetic Separation of Isotopes at Oak Ridge: An informal account of history, techniques, and accomplishments.

In 1960 I attended a European conference on isotope separation, after which I visited the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. A staff member there ventured the opinion that the separation of isotopes will be first on the list of important contributions to the peaceful uses of the atom when the Atomic Energy Commission's memoirs are written in the year 2000. In 1968 the AEC Division of Research contracted with the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a review of the AEC program for the separation of stable isotopes by electromagnetic and thermal diffusion methods.