sold on a competitive basis in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah. Leases in more speculative areas are sold on a noncompetitive basis, and such leases have been granted on about 200,000 acres in Utah and Nevada. The Interior Department, Koenig notes, has a stated goal of lease sales on 1 million acres by the end of 1975. Development drilling is continuing in California's Imperial Valley, where potentially important wells have been drilled at Heber, East Mesa, and North Brawley; in New Mexico's Valles Caldera, where significant discoveries have been made; and in the area of the Geysers, the operating steam field north of San Francisco, where exploratory holes have extended the known steam field to the north, east, and south. In addition, Koenig expects continued exploration within the Carson Desert of Nevada, along the Wasatch front of Utah, in the Rio Grande rift of New Mexico and Colorado, within the Snake River depression of Idaho and Oregon, and along the Oregon Cascade Range. Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Research & Development Administration is moving ahead with geothermal programs in R&D and resource utilization. Under the resource utilization program, ERDA will fund test facilities and participate in pilot or demonstration projects designed to prove the practicality of using geothermal energy for electric power production and to evaluate ways to assure that different approaches to tapping geothermal resources are environmentally acceptable. The agency's R&D program will look into such areas as advanced drilling components and techniques, scaling and corrosion, and noxious gas abatement systems. ERDA's budget request for fiscal year 1976, now working its way through Congress, asks $17.9 million for the resource utilization program and $10.5 million for R&D. Noting that much significant progress has been made toward utilizing geothermal energy around the world, John M. Teem, ERDA deputy administrator for solar, geothermal, and advanced energy systems, points out that the U.S. is participating in several international cooperative programs. One of these is a study on several aspects of geothermal R&D sponsored by the North Atlantic Alliance's committee on the challenges of modern society. In addition, bilateral programs are under way with the Soviet Union and Iceland, and agreements are nearing completion with Italy and Japan. Although the worldwide upsurge of activity in geothermal energy holds much promise, a number of obstacles must be overcome. Some are technical, others are legal or institutional. Not the least of the technical problems is finding a viable geothermal area in the first place. Not all holes drilled bear fruit. For example, Koenig notes that in the U.S. wildcat wells were drilled at numerous locations in Oregon, 26
C&EN June 9. 1975
Idaho, California, Utah, Arizona, and source is water, then the question arises Nevada with little or no success. Some of whether it is subject to the regulations holes drilled at the Geysers were not and control of states under applicable productive. water laws. If a geothermal area is found, it may Another aspect of the ownership issue not be a usable resource. For example, involves payment of royalties. For exthe UN's Bradbury describes eight wells ample, a case now in the California suitable for production that were drilled courts involves land at the Geysers that in Turkey in the wet steam field at was sold by the state in the past. Under Kizildere between 1968 and 1971. Flash- terms of the sale, the state retained ing of the hot water as it moved up the mineral rights. However, water is legally well bore released carbon dioxide, caus- a surface right and belongs to the owner. ing calcium carbonate to deposit as The outcome of that case will determine scale in the well and in the surface whether the state or the land owner reequipment—so much so that steam flow ceives the royalties. Meanwhile, the was quickly restricted. A solution would royalties are being deposited in an be to keep the fluid liquid by pumping it escrow account. out of the well at a pressure high enough In addition, conflicts have occurred to avoid flashing. But that approach over issuance of specific leases to public would have required deep-well pumps lands or permits to drill. Koenig notes operating at a depth of 400 m, a tech- that at the Geysers, for example, local nology beyond the scope of current ex- opposition based on the desire to preperience. The hope for electrical power serve rural values has slowed exploraproduction at Kizildere thus has been tion through widespread use of regulaabandoned for the time being. tory and appellate hearings. Legal and institutional problems are Union Oil Co., which currently prono small obstacles either. A 1971 study vides the steam used in the generating by the University of California ranked stations at the Geysers (other companies these types of problems a close second with lease holdings are conducting exto brine chemistry problems as signifi- ploratory drilling there as well), says cant deterrents to exploitation. that plans had been made for the GeyOne example of the legal problems is sers to reach a capacity of more than that of ownership. The big question 1600 Mw by 1980. This goal has been here is whether geothermal resources postponed indefinitely because of delays are legally a mineral or water. It is a con- in the granting of necessary permits and • voluted issue. If, for example, the re- other institutional barriers.
Avco reveals isotope enrichment research With interest in the laser separation of uranium isotopes heating up (C&EN, May 12, page 17), some details of one project previously surrounded by secrecy have just come to light. The occasion was the fifth biennial Conference on Laser Applications held in Washington, D.C., late last month. An unusual aspect of the research is
that it was first performed in 1971, three years before the first announced uranium isotope separation by scientists at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (C&EN, July 8, 1974, page 24). Until last month's meeting, however, the organization behind the work, Jersey Nuclear-Avco Isotopes Inc., had said vir-
Two-photon laser method separates uranium isotopes Reference electron beam ionizer
To mass spectrometer Focusing lens Laser beams
Detector
Vapor collimators Evaporation rate sensor ' Uranium vapor Uranium metal Electron beam evaporator
tually nothing more than that it was working on uranium isotope separation by laser; it would not discuss details of the project. The firm has maintained that national security considerations and patent protection are the reasons for the cloak of secrecy. The company is a joint venture of Avco Corp. and Exxon Nuclear Co. At the meeting, Dr. G. Sargent Janes, vice president of isotope research at Avco Everett Research Laboratory, Everett, Mass., described an experiment that is somewhat different from the work at the Lawrence laboratory. The Avco work resulted in a 50% isotopic enrichment of 2 3 5 U, and provided the experimental verification for a patent granted in 1973. Basically the Avco approach involves using two tunable lasers to selectively excite and ionize 2 3 5 U atoms in an atomic uranium vapor stream produced by electron beam evaporation. Lasers were employed either as a pair of pulsed dye lasers or alternatively as one pulsed dye laser for excitation followed by a pulsed nitrogen laser for ionization. Isotopic enrichments were detected by a mass spectrometer. The company won't provide any further details beyond its presentation. For example, whether the procedure has been refined to the point where measurable samples have been collected is not now known. There has been speculation, however, by other workers in the area that Avco scientists have been able to collect significant samples of enriched uranium but the company refuses to comment on this possibility. One scientist at the laser applications meeting went so far as to opine that Avco may be about to move to pilot-plant scale with its method. This would be a dramatic development, if true, and could affect current plans for new gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment capacity (C&EN, May 12, page 7). In addition it also easily could leapfrog developing technology for the gas centrifuge method of uranium enrichment. By most estimates laser enrichment of uranium would be the cheapest method. Other isotope enrichment projects also are moving forward, with the thrust of research work directed toward uranium enrichment. At the University of California's Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico, scientists have succeeded in enriching isotopes of boron, chlorine, and sulfur by a nonlinear photon dissociation initiated with a carbon dioxide laser. Uranium enrichment by laser is also under way at Los Alamos. Scientists there predict that if current work bears fruit it could reduce energy needs for uranium enrichment by a factor of 100 to 1000. Meanwhile, at the National Bureau of Standards in Gaithersburg, Md., laser separation of isotopes also has been successful. NBS says, however, that its research is not aimed at uranium enrichment. Chris Murray, C&EN Washington
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June 9, 1975 C&EN
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