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Show UnpvL '-GUlL The Ex , eactor No, I. the 11.' ® a e t COl lr' ,that POWF--' '-::-: . --.'. :experimem: 1ll1l! JUc(G}mlO)e:r, J:.,jJ)." the first that this kind of was breeding is actually feasible. It di so in experiments Jp the 1950's. a series of notable The reactor was retired in :pril, 1964, and made a Regis "tered National Historic Land ::mark in August, 1966, during 'R dedication ceremony led by 'President Johnson. · ; Its successor, Experi the 'mental Breeder Reactor No. '2, or EBR-2, was designed to further demonstrate the' feasi 'ibility of the breeding concept. ,EBR-2 is currently the key irradiation test facility in the AEC's Liquid Metal Fast • • • Breeder Reactor program - the commission's principal approach to the development of the fast breeder reactor ,oncept. Once attained on a commer " cial scale, breeding wilo per- mit essentially all of the ura . 'nium in our nuclear fuel re Sources to be used for energy instead of a tiny fraction of it, s is now the case. OTHER PROGRAMS ,I The reactors evolved for the submarines and for shipping'):lort were pressurized water reactors; i.e., reactors in \vhich the water used to re -move heat from the reactor :core is kept under pressure so 'that it will not boil. 'i The pressurized water is led '!lio a '"I ....... • .!an I Iiqutd instead of water move heat from the co INSURING SAFE Making sure that sion, power and othe tors are safe is as ' aspect Off NRTS on e as developing them [leL first place. 1110 No J On July 22, B an 1954, the first of the hoilin KEY TO TESTS . .!> demonstrate to chamber where the heat 1ogan, prototypes, was deli ¥.rs operated beyond norm ea.r its to observe the effe uncontrolled burst of upon it. The result was as, lar outpouring of ste of BuSl water from inside the The 1remendo which was developed the fuel into a twisted metal and the reactor s t iI' 0 Y e d. But there b 0 m b-l ike explosi core. be spread of radioactive n'11 Since the BORAX·! stration, other tests of I behavior have been con in four reactors built es. !athl e STATISTICS LISTED. ly for this purpose, have been called SPE 10 one actors for Special - Excursion Test. 2,000 TESTS More than 2,000 tests abnormal operating con have been carried out in lJ\t , , facilities. These have in tests in which power with reactors raised was !that is has' picked up from the ,flashlight battery level t answer secondary system of piping. :Water in the seconday system second. mlake steam to make have demonstrated that .eore is transferred to water in 'a then is allowed to boil to a tur bine generator or a propulsion ystem go. I' BORAX REACTORS An important family of re as the BORAX actors known ;reactors was developed NRTS beginning in 1953 at tOI emonstrate the feasibility of n opposite kind of reactor. q'hese are boiling water reac equivalent of Hoover out put within fraction So far, the to destroy. themse The evidence indicates, er, that reactors tend to themselves dow n under treme pqwer surges. Engineers worst that accident agree possible today's water-COOled powe actor would be loss of rea coolant water tors; i.e., reactors in which' ater is allnved to boil within through major piping break feed such the rea c tor vessel So as to directly steam to a W'bo·generatQir or a propul sion system. Booth types are in wide Use in the U.S. civilian , today, i'I nUClear eactor activity evelopment of po reacto'fS ' experir extremely difficult reactors adOre! They a agree also' that case, the major d age would be a reactor fuel if meltdown the fuel is protected by engineered s ty systems. If the Safety s terns are employed, dama to the .fuel Would be limited rupturmg of some fuel pin and the comparatively sm :mount cf -:--·-'··'-··"':vity b .J1 -"ined , |
