"breeder" reactor may create fissionable material supply

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Page 1: "Breeder" Reactor May Create Fissionable Material Supply

the Library of Congress during 10-47.

"Breeder" Reactor Hay Create Fissionable Material Supply

JL KO<;KI:SS was reported by the Atomic Energy Commission on a new method which would have the effect of expanding by several hundred t imes the supply of fissionable material through a ' 'breeder" type of reactor. Over a period of time t his nuclear chain reactor will actually create more hssionahle material than is put into the reactor as fuel to sustain the reaction.

•This method was discussed in the Atomic Energy Commission's third semi­annual report, an inventory of progress in the iields of weapons, basic and applied research, atomic power, medical and bio­logical developments, security provisions, and production aims, which was delivered to Congress recently.

The word fuel, when used in this con­nection by AIX\ denotes the fissionable material put into the reactor as the source of energy and the source of neutrons on which the fission process depends. Thti material put into the reactor for conver­sion into fissionable material is known as fertile material. The fuel is consumed through fission, which at the same time may create new fissionable material from the fertile material as a result of the. ab­sorption, of neutrons.

The significance of t h e "'breeder" type of reactor is directly related to questions of the stores of uranium and thorium in the earth's surface and the problems of their recovery and use».

Because of the relationship between the rate of reproduction of fuel in a breeder and the power of the reactor, the develop­ment of breeders and reactors for power will go hand in hand.

Designs Dervlopcflfor Higli Temperature Reactors

One of the most important phases of rest-arch is that directed toward improving methods for separation and purification of fissionable material, especially plutonium, and on a system for the recovery of fuel materials from reactors. Sufficient prog­ress has been made to permit the design of medium high temperature reactors using various coolants with several variations in the moderator. These reactors may be operated at temperatures high enough to produce power on an experimental basis. One of such should be in operation by 1!)50, and perhaps earlier.

Construction was s tar ted this year on a uranium, graphite-moderated, air cooled reactor at Brookhaven National Labora­tory. It should be in operation within a year. Other new type reactors (unspeci­fied) are under design at the Argon ne Na­tional Laboratory, the Knolls Atomic

Power Laboratory, and the Clinton Na­tional Laboratory at Oak Ridge.

Hopes Private Intlnstry H ill Develop .Ye te Reserves

Deposits of very low-grade ore have been discovered as a result of the M a n h a t ­tan Engineer District program of explora­tion in many parts of the United States. The utilization of these deposits, however, depends upon the solution of complex re­search and industrial problems. The com­mission is of the opinion that these new-reserves can best be developed by com­petitive private industry, but in order to determine the most efficient methods of ore extraction and boneficiation, the AEC has purchased the vanadium plant at Monti ­cello, T i ah, for experimentation. After an ore stockpile has been accumulated, the operation of ot her plants in that area will be encouraged.

A raw materials office has been opened at Grand Junction, Colo., where a new office building will be constructed.

fst> topes Available to Collets. Ltiborti tories

Since t h e commission considi-rs it to be of vital importance to make isotopes avail able to qualified users at the lowest possible cost, nearly 2,000 shipments of radioactive isotopes have been made from the isotoj>es division at Oak Ridge since August 194(5, more than 1,600 of them within the past year. Close to 100 different kinds an* available. Of the 100 types of stable iso­topes, some 200 shipments were made in HM7. Twenty varieties, particularly iso­topes considered most important for bio­logical and medical research, are now being made available in limited quantit ies ' to for­eign laboratories and medical research groups. At the end of 1047 the commis­sion had made 20 shipments to foreign us­ers in Argentina, Australia, Denmark, and the United Kingdom.

To date, as the result of requests re­ceived, the commission has approved fu­ture distribution to Belgium, Canada, Cuba, France, Ireland, I ta ly , the Nether­lands, New Zealand. Peru, Sweden, and the Union of South Africa.

Declassified Documents Spread .Atomic Energy Information

A system for providing information on atomic energy to the scient ific and techni­cal community has been developed exten­sively during the past year- Nearly 1,700 individual declassified documents were distributed to project laboratories, gov­ernment agencies, and 150 depositories of

They were also made available to t he public through t hi* OTS of the Depart­ment of Commerce. About 102,000 copies were circulated.

Progress was made toward completion of the National Nuclear Energy Series, a 110-volume compilation of scientific trea­t ises based primarily on research in the field of atomic energy conducted under govern­ment auspices. By the year 's end, ma­terial for six volumes had been declassified ami prepared for reproduction and public sale. An additional 20 volumes are ready for reproduction and distribution within the project.

Weapon Production on Assembly Line Scale

In the weapon field the AEC is trying to convert the production system from " the unit fabricat ion of a laboratory device to a different scale of weapon production." For longer-term ojx>ration* it was found necessary to establish a much broader base for operations than the one used dur­ing the war when atomic weapons pro­duced were literally laboratory products.

The period when nuclear energ,y can make a significant cont ribution to t he suj>­ply of power now available from other sources is still years away. According to the semiannual report , it will take from S to 10 years to overcome the technical dif­ficulties and have a useful, practical dem­onstration plant in operation. Even un­der the most favorable, circumstances, it cont inucd, it will be about- 20 years before the present power supply of the world can be derived from nuclear fuel.

.\ationivide Program of La bora t firy Con s t rit ** t ion

During the past year an over-all plan to assure the common defense and security, as defined in the Atomic Energy Act, has been carried out by 1 he A E C A proving ground was established on Eniwetok Atoll in the South Pacific, improvement of the ITanford plant- for plutonium production was s ta r ted in the fall of the year, and a Division of Biology and Medicine es tab­lished. Also, production of radioisotope's at the Clinton National Laboratory made possible a nationwide program of tracer research in many fields.

Construction will get under way in 19-1S on the two new national laboratory es tab­lishments: Argonne, in DePage County outside Chicago, and Brookhaven, on the site of the former Camp Upton at Patch­ouge, Long Island.

Actual construction of the Argonne Na­tional Laboratory is scheduled to begin in the spring of li)4S, and the entire installa­tion is scheduled for completion in 1950.

The major portion of expenditures of the atomic energy program has been for production operations. About 70r<. of construction expenditures and about S0r'e­of operation expenditures were for pro­duction.

C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S 450