and performers and report to Congress the most important and useful techniques for an eventual permanent assessment apparatus. For the third phase the committee plans to have the Science Policy Research Division of the Legislative Reference Service in the Library of Congress make an inventory of other technology assessment projects throughout the world, although it seems that few programs of this type exist. An analysis of historical attempts at technology assessment will also be made. Some questions to be examined are: What part of society sounded the alarm? How obvious were the consequences before counteraction could be obtained? What political processes and institutions were involved in restoring the balance of benefit and deficit? According to Rep. Daddario, the Science Policy Research Division of the Library of Congress, founded less than three years ago, has been a big factor in increasing Congress* understanding of science and technology. T h e dependence which Congress is beginning to place on this skilled organization makes its expansion in the near future a virtual necessity." Rep. Daddario warns against a new attitude appearing here and there: the call for a moratorium on scientific advance until society gains the wisdom to use technology safely. A catchup period is proposed so that mores and rational conduct can develop which are able to cope with the choices forced by science. Meanwhile, the argument goes, a renaissance of art, literature, and the humanities should be force-fed to redress the imbalance caused by unprecedented support for research and development. "I do not believe that this line of reasoning appeals to many of us," Rep. Daddario says. "Surely, what is needed is more science, more knowledge of natural laws, and more prescience of what can and should result from the wise use of our resources. Science is concerned with truth, and, regardless of the shortcomings of our civilization, we cannot be hurt by knowing more, much more, of what we are about."
GE's Cohen Economic incentive
SEFOR plant GE will fight
are the fast-breeder reactors. Dr. Karl Cohen, general manager of the advanced products operation of GE's nuclear energy division, foresees a strong economic incentive for fast breeders by 1980. These reactors are the objects of company-sponsored research programs not only at GE and Westinghouse but also at Atomics International division of North American Aviation, General Atomic division of General Dynamics, and Babcock & Wilcox. Each of these companies is committing several million dollars per year to breeder reactors. Other companies, notably Combustion Engineering, may get considera-
ble fallout from research programs sponsored by the Atomic Energy Commission. AEC has just let five contracts, totaling $3.2 million, for conceptual design studies on a 1000M w ( e ) . liquid-metal (sodium-cooled) fast-breeder reactor (LMFDR). The contract went to Atomics International, Babcock & Wilcox, Combustion Engineering, GE, and Westinghouse. So far, the Big Two have dominated the nuclear power plant field. There are 29 nuclear plants with at least 400 M w ( e ) . output scheduled for startup through 1971, and GE and Westinghouse are each building 13. The Big Two will not give up their leadership without a fight. GE, along
AEC chairman Seaborg Welcome indication
Enrico Fermi plant So will Westinghouse
Competitors challenge Big Two for breeder reactor lead The Big Two of the nuclear power plant business, General Electric and Westinghouse, are being challenged by several competitors that want to get in on the ground floor when the power plant of the future arrives. The most promising reactors for the power plants of the late 20th century
JULY 17, 1967 C&EN 15
with the Southwest Atomic Energy Associates (a group of 17 utilities), EURATOM, and West Germany's Karlsruhe Laboratory, is building SEFOR, a 20-Mw(t). LMFDR at Fayetteville, Ark. This is a $25 mil lion project. GE is working with the East Central Nuclear Group (14 utilities) on a $1.2 million design study for an experimental steamcooled breeder reactor. This should lead to a 50-Mw(e). demonstration power plant. The company is also engaged in a $750,000 LMFDR de sign study with 20 utilities. This proj ect should lead to construction of a demonstration power plant in 1969. Westinghouse's LMFDR program has just been joined by Common wealth Associates (C&EN, July 10, page 2 7 ) , which was the architectengineer for the 60.9-Mw(e). Enrico Fermi plant, the world's largest breeder-reactor power installation. Duke Power, Charlotte, N.C., and Commonwealth Edison, Chicago, are also in Westinghouse's $35 million program, which will provide a techni cal base for a prototype LMFDR power plant. The company will com mit $10 million of its own money. Atomics International has its own conceptual design program for a large LMFDR power plant. It also has a contract with Empire State Atomic Development Associates, a group of New York utilities, for a study of a lOOO-Mw(e). LMFDR power plant. The company is spending several mil lion dollars per year on sodium-cooled breeder reactors, and is working to ward construction of a 500-Mw(e). demonstration power plant to be op erating by the mid-1970's. General Atomic has a joint program with the East Central Nuclear Group to develop a conceptual design for a 1000-Mw(e). gas-cooled fast-breeder power plant. Babcock & Wilcox is spending $3 million to $4 million per year on its breeder reactor program, and is now trying to recruit utilities to join the program. This activity must be pleasing to AEC, which has been concerned that the Big Two might dominate the fu ture nuclear power plant field. AEC Commissioner Wilfred E. Johnson has admitted he will have a problem de ciding what the commission should do when a consortium of one equipment supplier and several utilities asks for AEC aid to build a demonstration breeder-reactor power plant. Mean while, AEC Chairman Glenn T. Seaborg is encouraged by the increas ing interest of utilities in breederreactor design studies. He calls this a "welcome indication" that utilities are seriously considering the merits of incorporating breeder reactors in their power grids. 16 C&EN JULY 17. 1967
Price cuts may put ABS resins in line for high-volume uses Monsanto has lopped from 3 to 5 cents a pound (depending on grade) from its prices for molding and ex trusion grades of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins. The company hopes the lower prices, which went into effect this month, will· place ABS resins on a new growth curve. At their new price of 28 cents a pound, low-impact grades will com pete head-on with high-impact poly styrene in a number of high-volume uses. Some corollary effects of the lower prices will be to discourage newcomers now studying the ABS business and to secure ABS's position in the volatile automobile and appli ance markets. The multitude of grades makes price comparisons between producers very difficult. The two major pro ducers of ABS plastics—Marbon Chemical division of Borg-Warner and Uniroyal—say they will meet Monsanto's prices. Sinclair-Koppers, which started up its ABS production facility at Kobuta, Pa., last month, says it will meet the new prices on the three grades of Dylel ABS resin it makes. Carbide will also remain com petitive. Other producers will have little choice but to follow. High-impact grades of ABS resin have been decreased 3 cents to 36 cents a pound. Medium-impact grades have been cut 4 cents to 32 cents a pound, and low-impact grades 5 cents to 28 cents a pound. Pipe-grade resin remains unchanged at 40 cents a pound. Colored resins will continue to command a 4 cent-apound premium. The prices apply to 30,000-pound truckload bag orders. Monsanto couples its price reduc-
ABS resin capacities by «Bly lm (Millions of pound» p» year)
Marbon 200 Uniroyjfi ,200 Monsanto 170 Uniont&ffeiée 40 Rexat|v 1 : ; ,.. .< -:χ\·& Goodàjfé;';. ; ·>··.. VÂ Α ' Λ ^ | : ' 'Dow, '"-?>·'· % '.Ν» SinclaJr-;Koppers >5 Source: C&EN estimates
tions with an expansion in ABS ca pacity from about 90 million pounds per year to 170 million pounds at Addyston, Ohio. The expansion is fully committed to new grades of Lustran designed for injection mold ing, featuring improved surface ap pearance and processing properties. The new resins will be called the Lustran 240, 440, and 740 series. Part of the expansion is now complete, with the remainder scheduled for pro duction in the first quarter of 1968. The expansion is based on new tech nology which significantly advances the economics and quality of ABS plastics, according to Η. Η. Bible, Monsanto vice president and general manager of the company's hydrocar bons and polymers division. Some of the markets Monsanto hopes the new prices will open up are television cabinets, butter and oleo margarine tubs, quality toys, and houseware such as dishes and glasses. Refrigerator door liners are a large end use for ABS resins and the lower prices make possible their use in re frigerator food liners. Growth of the plastic has been strong recently. Marbon, for exam ple, increased sales about 33% last year alone. The major outlet for ABS molding and extrusion resins is in automotive uses in such items as instrument panel clusters and door pull knobs. Telephone, appliances, and related hardware are the second largest use, with heels for women's shoes third. Exports have also ac counted for a large share of ABS resin production. In 1966, exports of ABS resins ran about 30 million pounds. The bright future for the engineer ing plastic has caused firms to expand rapidly in the past few years and in vited new producers. Rexall, Car bide, and Sinclair-Koppers are rela tive newcomers. Cities Service is offering development quantities of ABS resins made at a pilot plant at Lake Charles, La., and is planning to enter the business. ABS capacity will lead demand for some time to come. When an nounced expansions are complete, ABS capacity will exceed 700 million pounds in 1968. Total demand this year will be about 325 million pounds.
Mallinckrodt would consider sizable merger or acquisition Mallinckrodt Chemical Works' chair man and president, Harold E. Thayer, has outlined the company's blueprint for sustained growth. The main de parture, he told a meeting of the New York Society of Security Analysts,
