Word: fissionable
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...claim this nation cannot prosper without nuclear power [Dec. 8]. But a growing number of Americans believe we cannot survive with fission; it is our Frankenstein's monster, a creation we can ill afford to nurture any longer...
...nuclear fuel. But long-lived plutonium is deadly to man and must be handled carefully. A tiny speck in the lungs, for example, can cause cancer. More important, plutonium is the prime ingredient of atomic bombs; as little as 22 lbs. is all that is required for a crude fission bomb with the explosive force of 100 tons of TNT. Thus the material must be safeguarded so as not to fall into the hands of terrorists or blackmailers - and this requires tight security regulations. Nader and other critics worry about the unlikely prospect that such security measures would turn...
Died. John Ray Dunning, 67, pioneering American nuclear physicist; of a heart attack; in Key Biscayne, Fla. Dunning directed the 1939 experiment at Columbia University's cyclotron in Manhattan that confirmed the findings of scientists in Germany and elsewhere about the possibility of controlled atomic fission. "Believe we have observed new phenomenon of far-reaching consequences," he scrawled in a diary. Dunning's later research showed that Uranium 235 was the most fissionable isotope, a discovery that led to the gas-diffusion method of refining U-235, currently used in nuclear bombs and most atomic power plants...
Prognosis: Despite the problems, nuclear fission could account for about 15% of U.S. energy production in 1985 and 30% by 2000, v. 2% now. By 1985, ERDA officials project, about 250 nuclear plants will be operating. The 200 new plants planned between now and then will be the equivalent of oil-fired generating plants that consume about 5 million bbl. of oil daily...
Controlled energy from nuclear fusion-joining atomic nuclei instead of splitting them as in fission-still remains what it has been for a generation: a possibility. But in a number of laboratories and one private company-KMS Industries of Ann Arbor, Mich.-scientists are moving closer to doing what they know can be done: fusing the nuclei of deuterium and tritium to create a powerful burst of energy. At KMS and the Government's Los Alamos lab, lasers are being used to "implode" deuterium pellets. Energy has been produced, but not enough to be measured accurately or drive...