This work reviewed the historical literature associated with the Dragon experiment and Water Boiler reactors operated at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Frisch's invited talk given at the Fast Burst Reactor Conference held the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM in 1969 is quoted. From the literature review, basic models for the Dragon experiment and for a Water Boiler type assembly (aqueous homogeneous reactor) were created that can be used for conducting multi-physics simulations for criticality excursion studies. This methodology utilizes the coupled neutronic-hydrodynamic method to perform a time-dependent dynamic simulation of a criticality excursion. MCNP® was utilized to calculate important nuclear kinetic parameters that were incorporated into the models. Simulation results compared reasonably well with historic data.

The Critical Assemblies Facility of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has been in existence for thirty five years. In that period, many thousands of measurements have been made on assemblies of : "Li, : "U. a id ; ' 9 Pu in various configurations, including the nitrate, sulfate. fluoride, carbide, and oxide chemical compositions and the solid, liquid, and gaseous states. The present complex of eleven operating machines is described, and typical applications are presented. Many reactor concepts have been mocked up in

The basic characteristics of a self-sustaining chain reaction were demonstrated with the Chicago Pile in 1943, but it was not until early 1945 that sufficient enriched material became available to experimentally verify fast-neutron cross-sections and the kinetic characteristics of a nuclear chain reaction sustained with prompt neutrons alone. However, the demands of wartime and the rapid decline in effort following the cessation of hostilities often resulted in the failure to fully document the experiments or in the loss of documentation as personnel returned to civilian pursuits. When documented, the results were often highly classified. Even when eventually declassified, the data were often not approved for public release until years later. 2 Even after declassification and 1 Richard E. Malenfant supports Los Alamos National Laboratory Group N-2 and the Criticality Experimental Facility (CEF) Project under a Task Order with Technology Management Consulting Services, Inc. 2 For example, LA-397, "Controlled Production of an Explosive Nuclear Chain Reaction," by O. R. Frisch was written in September 1945; declassified in January 1957; and finally approved for public release in November 1995. In some instances, approval for public release was not obtained until it was specifically requested to provide documentation of historical experiments.

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