NUCLEAR REACTORS IN THE UNITED STATES
8
HUBERT N. ALYEA Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey [EDITOR'S NOTE: This chart serves to summarize the status of the development of nuclear reactors in the United States as of November 1, 1955. Science teachers find students a t all levels of training becoming more and more hungry for details are pleased from sources other than science fiction. The editors of THIS JOURNAL to be able t o provide so much information in this convenient reference form. Since it compiles headlines written to report one of science's most rapidly advancing fields, its timeliness implies a warning against assuming that it will be up to date for long. For example, it now appears (February, 1956) that the first nonmilitary reactor to provide steady power to generate electricity for a private utility will be the pilot plant of North American Aviation's sodium graphite reactor. This electricity will be fed into the lines of the Southern California Edison Company in the summer of 1956.1
SOME RESEARCH REACTORS 1942-1955 BEGAN APPROX.
CODE
TYPE
F U E L land r d l ~ c t w l
bulk .hi.ld.
,3+
"
COOLANT
grmphif.
nmural u . o n i ~ ~ " U in Al, 24 it. cer. IC)
.. ..
MODERATOR
LOCALITY Chic.o
W .(..
St."d.)
0.1. Ridge. T."". Hmfmd. Wqsh. Brookhar.n. L. I. Oak Ridg. A r c 4 Idaho *.so Idaho ~&n.. Chicwo LO' Almm*.. N. M. A,co, Idoh. S*.nnh . Rir., Schen.stady (GE. Knolls) Area. N."til". (W"h ,.tl". N. Caroline St. Co1l.s~ W. Milton (GEIsnd ths 5 0. Wolf
units
fae#liry. 3k.9W.U-235
soma 0 s BSF. (BaO) o e u b k ft. U-235 (Cl 3 t.". n.tur.1 u..nium
-- -
12.7 liter. 89XU-235 nitrma ( C i opu.ou. umnium .It. ".,",.I u..niu. hioh. enriched. 2.n. U.235 (C) hm~hlyenriched r. U-235 I 4 liters UO2S.4. 90% U-235 (C) highly snrich.d r. U-235
NoK
2:
020 D20 H20 pr~~surhd
Hz0 Be
utility line war on July 18, 1955, Tho first time power from m nuclear reactor war ever ssnt into e when 10,000 kw. from the prototype of the submarine the Sen Wolf at Wort Milton, N. Y. was sent into the liner of the Niogam-Mohawk Power Corporation. POWER REACTORS
- AEC'r
FIVE-TYPE FIVE-YEAR PLAN
- 1955-60 MILLIONS OF WATTS
SRE
SODIUM GRAPHITE REACTOR (SGR); Ssdium Remoor Eip.r,mental. is 2.8% enriched U, g r m p h h m.dermed. No coolad. High Temp., not pnsrur4z.d. hiph thermal d l i c i m c y . Rmed 20 M r lcr had.
PWR
PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR. Wqrer m 600 p s i snd 52SPF. circu1mt.s *hrowh sliqhtly mr1ch.d U in m zirconium alloy t o produce s*.mn. Another Pr..rurirea N me, Reode, i s t h e A m y Pmckmpd Pressurized We,. R e m w (APPR).
EBR-2
FAST BREEDER REACTOR (FBRI. m Exp.romanlml 8ra.d-r R.a~t*r NU^^., 2. A I.ra. plutonium ewe. .odium eoeled, rropped i n U-238 1%u n n d e r e e d sins. plutmium c w t u r e . 10.3 neutrons.
blmnk.1.
Fuel
N w t h Anericon Ariotion, Smto Susma, Colil.
PWR-W~stinghous~ Shippinsport, Pa. Dupu.sne L i s h t Co. V. APPR-Ft. B.lroir,
&.an.
Nmional 111
Lobc.atori.s,
COST I N MILLIONS
READY IN
(7.511
S 10
'56
M)
S 85
'57
1.7
S2
'58
I5
S 40
'58
175
VOLUME 33. NO. 4, APRIL, 1956 INDUSTRIAL REACTORS
- approved by the AEC by Nov. 1955
CONSOLIDATED EDISON CO. lndion Point. W~stchene. county. N Y. By Bobsock a d nllcor 6.A perrurized r d e r reocta IPWR). The t m l i r highly enriched U, with Th-232 in the corn. Bred. U2U. h l o n t and modoreor i s Q O a lMOpsi ond 480- 5101F. Entire stemgeneraor is rhiddod.
736
$55
'59
NUCLEAR POWER GROUP, CDMONWEALTH EDISON CO. New Olisago. By the G m r a l Electric 6. A boiling w t e r reactor (BER).
180
f 45t
-60
1000
1176
'36
ATOMIC POWER DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES. INC.; The Detroit Ediron 6 .In Michigun. A developmmd 10.1 neutrcn breeder r c ~ c t o r(EBR). U.235 enriched r d s or plaer, sodium coolant at 550 -80WF.. breeder blank* of dedeted U-rods. 6 n u e . t . U23Sto fisrile dutonium foster tho"
6mp0re ~ a p a ~ i t i e01s the .he reoctorr with the following f o d r
.....
: b v c r Dam her ow largest hydroelectris plant : M O W 20 Iorge~t,13 hydrdcctric units are each about : Total USA hydroelectric podustion in 1955
.....
....
still INDUSTRIAL REACTORS study by the AEC in Nov. 1955
130
25,OW under
t -
ANION-EXCHANGE RESINS CONCENTRATE URANIUM
SINCE 1950, chemists have stepped up their efforts to 6nd a way
to recover uranium economically and efficiently from low-grade ores. Working from the successful use of ion-exchange resins in the isolation and recovery of rare earths and fission products, many lrshoratories cooperated to apply the same techniques to uranium. Cation exchange seemed obvious, since a t the time hexavalent uranium was thought to exist in solution solely as the uranyl cation. But attempts to adsorb uranium with cation exehmgers, while possible, did not prove worthwhile, since ferric iron, aluminum, and other heavy metals were also adsorbed along with the U02++. Then it was found that the same UOl++ ion forms, stepwise, anionic complexes with sulfate ions. I n the formation equilib rium UOz++
+ &Oh--
s UOn(S04).2-m
(where n = 1, 2, or 3), the most probable species present in solution is U02(S0,)r-'. A second and even stronger complex exists in carbonate mlutions:
uol+++ 3 ~ 0 ~ - - ~
0
~
~
~
Since the two major leach systems used in treating uraniumhearing ores contain these strongly anionic complexes, anion exchange seemed to he indicated. The uranium recoverv and concentration svstem which was developed hrgins nirh ilw rlrrriheJ lewlt liqoor, eithrr a mrImnute or sulfuric :!rid syrlrln. St:srtinr with the rrrhnnge rrsit8 iu the vl~lorideor nirrnre forrn, the leucll liquor is pnssra rhrougl. a series of Amberlite IRA400 beds. Chloride or nitrate ions on
the resin are replaced by sulfate and bisulfate ions and uranium sulfate complexes from the leach liquor. Since Amberlite IRA400 is selective for the uranium sulfate complex (in preference to sulfate, as well as bisulfate and femic sulfate complex), the resin ultim&ely becomes loaded with the desired complex. Uranium is eluted from the resin by treatment of the loaded bed with chloride or nitrate ions in high concentrations. No sepsrate regeneration cycle is necessary since this elution returns the resin to its original form. Results from this new process are gratifying. Careful analyses indicate that at least 98 per cent of the uranium in the leach liquor can be recovered as a concentrate having a UaOscontent greater than 80 per cent. A second urmium recovery process, also involving Amberlite ion+xchange resin, currently interests many specialists in hydrometallurgy. Referred to as the Resin-In-Pulp (RIP) proceas, this method eliminates costly and time-consuming filtering and clarification steps. The ursnium ore is ground and leached with mlfuric acid to form a slurry or pulp containing from 30 to 50 per cent solids. a series of eight or nine large tanks 0The~pulp~flows~ through ~ equipped with sets of wire baskets containing larger-than-normal resin beads. Like giant teabags, the baskets of resin in each tank are slowly raised and lowered in the flowing slurry and uranium is loaded on the heads. When tests indicate the presence of uranium in the last few tanks of slurry, the flow is diverted to additional tanks of freshly eluted resin and the loaded resin is washed and eluted. -Reprinted from AmberHi-Lites of the Rohrn & Haas Company
