Word: reactors
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...heat can often stand atomic radiation, too. So they finally came up with a set of gadgets that ignores neutrons and gamma rays. Two of their assemblies, enclosed in a heated capsule at 842° F., spent 1,000 hours in the heart of the Oak Ridge nuclear reactor. They worked all the time, affected neither by the heat nor by the storm of radiation...
...exports of radioactive minerals and end the joint-exploration treaty with the U.S. President Kubitschek meekly gave the nationalistic generals their way. Still in effect was the "Atoms for Peace" agreement in which the U.S., without asking anything in return, promised to provide Brazil with 13.2 Ibs. of uranium reactor fuel, donate $350,000 toward the cost of a research reactor...
...reactor will be of novel design, using heavy water as the moderator to slow down its neutrons, and liquid sodium as the coolant to extract the heat of the reaction. This combination is extremely efficient, but engineers have always shied away from it because water and liquid sodium react explosively when they come in contact. Only recently were methods devised to keep them safely apart...
...advantage of the design is that the sodium can become very hot without vaporizing. This eliminates high-pressure vessels and piping. Another advantage is that the fuel need be only slightly enriched in costly U-235. The designers of the reactor believe that it can produce electricity at 7 mills per kilowatt-hour, which is much cheaper than the current cost (16.8 mills) of steam power in the Anchorage area...
Larger models of the heavy water-sodium reactor (50,000 kilowatts and up) can be fueled with natural uranium. This is an important advantage for sales outside the U.S. So far, the most efficient reactors have demanded enriched uranium, made only in the U.S., Britain and Russia. Many countries want nuclear power, hate becoming dependent on the great powers for fuel. If they use natural uranium they can get fuel from many independent sources...