Science: Nuclear Roadblocks

As President Eisenhower was giving the go-ahead on the release of 88,000 Ibs. of U-235 (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS), one atomic expert warned that there are still some major technical roadblocks in the way of “practical, low cost nuclear power.” Progress from here on, said Sylvania Electric Products’ Engineer Stanley B. Roboff, “will be only as fast as we can develop new and better materials for use in reactors.”

Theoretically, said Roboff, nuclear power plants will “outperform all existing types of power-generating plants.” Such plants are not now being built, he told an audience of engineers in Manhattan, because “we do not yet have materials of construction that can withstand the severity of conditions which would exist within a power reactor operating with ultrahigh power output.” Some of the major kinks that must be ironed out, according to Roboff, before commercial nuclear power becomes “really attractive and generally available”:

¶ High temperature nuclear fuels must be developed, capable of operating over a wider temperature range and of burning longer.

¶ The cost of reactor materials, e.g., zirconium, beryllium and heavy water, must be greatly reduced.

¶ New construction materials capable of withstanding severe corrosion and extreme temperature ranges must be developed.

¶ More efficient moderators must be developed. (The moderating material is inserted between fuel rods to slow down the speed of neutrons.)

¶ Smaller and lighter reactor shields must be designed for use in mobile reactors.

¶ A low cost fuel recovery process must be developed.