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Newspaper
Baytown Sun
Location
Baytown, Texas, United States of America
Date
Aug 25, 1964
Page
5
The text explains how a reactor reaches critical mass, with a golf ball versus basketball analogy. It outlines control methods using rods made of boron or cadmium, reflectors like graphite, and gradual addition of active material to reach criticality. It covers moderators, coolants, shielding, and safety mechanisms to prevent meltdown and control power.
The text explains that nuclear energy arises from nucleus interactions, far exceeding chemical energy. It outlines uranium-235 and plutonium-239 use in reactors, fission triggering by neutrons, mass to energy via E=mc2, released energy and gamma rays, and the chain reaction where neutrons cause successive fissions.
The article distinguishes two basic reactor types thermal and fast. Thermal reactors use moderating material to slow neutrons and offer flexible size, while fast reactors rely on high energy neutrons with no moderator and need more fissionable material. It explains homogeneous versus heterogeneous designs, including fuel cladding and fuel element assemblies in cores.
Nuclear power is now competitive with fossil fuels in the United States with over 25 commercial reactors either operating under construction or planned. Plants range from 60,000 kilowatts at Shippingport to multimillion kilowatt reactors planned at Queers New York. Utilities pool power over long interconnecting lines and the AEC funds bigger reactors using alternatives to water such as sodium graphite and heavy water. Notable plants include Yankee Atomic at Kowee Massachusetts Oyster Creek New Jersey and Humboldt Bay California with plans for more reactors by 1980. Some say nuclear power could be competitive everywhere by 1970 and ships including submarines showcase extended underwater operation without refueling thanks to compact reactors.
Speculation on nuclear energy for space propulsion began as early as 1544 but a formal program existed only since 1955 with Project Rover at Los Alamos. Researchers tested at Jackass Flats Nevada and explored Kiwi reactor series to develop reactors for rocket propulsion. The principle mirrors chemical rockets as liquid hydrogen absorbs heat in a reactor core then expands through a nozzle.
Reactors serve diverse goals beyond energy including research in nuclear physics and solid state physics, radiochemistry, activation analysis in analytical chemistry, biology and plant science, medical radiotherapy, isotope production, and testing reactor materials. Production reactors primarily supply plutonium for national defense, shaping design data and reliability under radiation.
The Water Boiler and Clementine reactors were developed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, linking early reactor work to the Manhattan Project. From 1939 to 1953, Water Boiler progressed from a low power pile using enriched uranium to a high power unit, while Clementine the first fast reactor demonstrated unmoderated neutron operation before a plutonium-fueled accident led to its disassembly.
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory developed LAPRE reactors using uranium phosphate with gold clad parts for corrosion resistance. LAPRE I and II explored high temperature operation and natural circulation. LAMPRE achieved criticality in 1958, testing molten plutonium fuel and sodium cooling for fast breeder ideas. UHTREX aims for 2400 F, FRCTF under construction to test cores, with 1967 target criticality for FACTF molten plutonium design.
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