Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Raymond C. Grills is an American physical chemist who worked at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory and at Hanford during the Manhattan Project.

After receiving a B.S. in Chemistry from Monmouth College in Illinois and a Ph.D. from the University of Indiana, Grills was hired by the DuPont Company. He worked for DuPont on nylon research and on explosives before joining the Manhattan Project as a metallurgist. At the Chicago Met Lab and at Hanford, Grills and his colleagues developed a canning process to seal uranium slugs for use in Hanford’s water-cooled nuclear reactors.

After his canning technique was successfully implemented, Grills was transferred to a DuPont nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia. He continued working for DuPont after the war.

Raymond C. Grills’s Timeline
19431945 Worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory and at Hanford.

Raymond Grills’ War Department certificate for his Manhattan Project work

Letter from DuPont President to Raymond Grills

DuPont booklet on its Manhattan Project work, page 1

DuPont booklet on its Manhattan Project work, page 2

DuPont booklet on its Manhattan Project work, page 3

DuPont booklet on its Manhattan Project work, page 4

Related Profiles

R. A. Coerver

T-Plant/200 Areas

Coerver worked at the 200 West Area at Hanford during the Manhattan Project. 

Harold Argo

Los Alamos, NM

Harold Argo was a physicist. He worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory beginning in 1944.  He was married to physicist Mary Argo.

William F. Orren

Nagasaki Mission

William F. Orren served as a technical sergeant in the 393rd squadron. He was regularly assigned to the B-29 Top Secret.

Hilford Nelson

Y-12 Plant

Hilford Nelson worked for the Tennessee Eastman Corporation at the Y-12 Plant.