Press Release, Subject: Note to Editors and Correspondents re Paper " the Army Nuclear Power Program: Its Reactors, and Their Application to the Less-Developed Areas of the World "

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ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION NOTE TO EDITORS AND CORRESPONDENTS: The Atomic Energy Commission did not distribute the at tached paper, "The Army Nuclear Power Program: Its Reactors, and Their Application to the Less-Developed Areas of the World" at the time it was presented before the International Atomic Energy ''•'"■'\Agency's Conference on Small and Medium Power Reactors. The paper is being distributed at this time for your information or use because of apparent interest in the nuclear industry. This document has been reviewed by a DC/RO and confirmed to be UNCLASSIFIED. Name: Robert Lind

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The Army Nuclear Power Program: Its Reactors» and Their Application to the Less-Developed Areas of the World* The Army Nuclear Power Program (ANPP) is a joint program o£ the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense, and is so named because the Army acts as agent for all three military services within the Department of Defense. This program has as its principal objective the development of a variety of nuclear power plants to meet requirements for electricity and heat at remote installations, and the organization has attendant responsibilities for training operators and for providing technical assistance to the three services in their use of nuclear power in field opera The general technical objectives of the Army Nuclear Power Program in developing nuclear power plants include safety, simplification and ruggedization, mobility, economy, reduced on- '.ite construction effort and time, and minimum operating and main The ANPP has achieved these objectives in the power range 0.3-6 megawatts, electrical (Mwe) by designing a variety of pres surized water, boiling water, and gas-cooled reactors. Pressurized water plants include stationary, fixed-base plant types such as and PM-2A. Boiling water plants include the stationary SL-1 and the portable PL-1 and PL-2. The Amy gas-cooled reactor program is directed to achieving a truly mobile plant such as the ML-1. The Amy Nuclear Power Program plants are characteristically designed for application in remote regions where use of conventional *A paper presented by Joseph K. Bratton, Office of the Assistant Director (Amy Reactors), Division of Reactor Development, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Washington 25, D.C., before the Inter national Atomic Energy Agency Conference on Small and Medium Power Reactors, Vienna, 5-9 September 1960.

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power is prohibitive; hence, nuclear plants are inherently well suited for government or civilian power requirements in the lessdeveloped areas of the world. The power levels contemplated (up to 10 Mwe), in both portable and mobile plants, are also compat ible with the relatively small capacity in such areas to consume, in early stages of development, greater amounts of power. The transition from a remote site military installation use to an isolated or expanding, less-developed area is a logical one. Nuclear power plant uses as power sources for depots, .hospitals, port operations, and temporary emergency applications can easily be equated to such civilian or government-sponsored power-consuming installations as expanding municipal needs for urban areas, new remote-area industries, or emergency or disaster area applications.. The portable characteristics of the Army Program plants make their employment feasible in areas where on-site construction capacity is limited; the relocatable charac teristics of some plants make their use at successive locations technically feasible and economically attractive.

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THE ARMY NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM: ITS REACTORS, AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE LESS-DEVELOPED AREAS OF THE WORLD The purpose of this paper is to explain the position of the United States of America regarding the development of small •and medium land-based nuclear power plants within the Army Nuclear Power Program (ANPP) and to indicate how our military activities in this field are integrated with those of the over-all reactor development effort. The paper contains a review of the ANPP charter, mission, organization, and objectives, and describes the reactor plants which make up the program. It includes some of the economics involved in developing, constructing, and operating such plants, and presents certain capabilities which it is felt the ANPP possesses for logical translation to the growing power needs of some of the emergent, developing regions of the world. The board objective of the Army Nuclear Power Program is the development of a family of stationary, portable, and mobile plants, with capacities ranging from several hundred to 40,000 kilowatts, electrical (Kwe). The Program includes: a. Research and development on nuclear devices as pri mary heat sources in the generation of electrical and mechanical b. Research and development of nuclear power plants for supplying power for heat and electricity. c. Provision of technical assistance to users of the devices and plants developed. d. Selection and training of the necessary staff, oper ating, and maintenance personnel to accomplish research and devel opment and field utilization of nuclear power.

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The general technical objectives of the Army Nuclear Power Program include: increasing power and life of nuclear reactor cores; simplification and ruggedization of components; reduction of crew size and improvement of system reliability and safety, making plant operation as nearly unattended as possible; continued inprovements in plant transportability, mobility, and relocatability; reduction of on-site construction effort, time, and costs; achievement of as high a degree of standardization as possible; and, very importantly, reduction of initial and operating costs to a minimum. 3. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM At the present time, major projects in this program in clude two operating prototype power plants, five plants under procurement and construction, six plants in varying stages of de sign for which projected requirements have been stated, two experi mental installations, and two experimental programs. The plants cover the technologies of boiling water, pressurized water, and gas cooled reactors, and may include a liquid metal or some analogous type of reactor as work progresses. This multi-plant program is summarized in the Appendix A. It should be noted that on the last page of the summary is included an explanation of the project number system is used to identify each plant. The first letter is always S, P, or M to signify stationary, portable, or mobile. The second letter is L, M, or H to signify low power (less than 1,000 Kwe), medium power (1,000 to 10,000 Kwe), or high power (greater than 10,000 Kwe). The Arabic numeral indicates the order of initia tion of projects within the same two-lettei groups; a final letter after the numbers identifies field plants. Use of this nomenclature system is illustrated in the summary itself as well as in the de scriptions of the plants below. The first sheet of the summary lists the pressurized water reactors, and Table I shows some of the technical character istics of the ANPP plants in this category. The first plant listed, the SM-1, was the first operating nuclear power reactor in the United States to supply power to a power system. It is a stationary plant of medium power (1,855 net Kwe), and has been operating as a pressurized water reactor (PWR) prototype at Fort Belyoir, Virginia, since April 1957«

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PRESSURIZED WATER PLANT DESIGN TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS Number of Elements 45 45 37 45 6 Number of Control Rods 7 7 5 7 6 * Exclusive of aggregate in concrete.

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The SM-1 is used as a research and development facility, as a training medium for operators, and has provided a portion of the power for Fort Belvoir. It has provided extensive, valuable information in developing other pressurized water cooled and moderated reactors which incorporate such desirable characteristics as simplification, ruggedization, and packageability. For example, most of the known technology for flat plate, stainless steel clad fuel elements has been developed from work with the SM-1 at Fort Belvoir and Oak Ridge National Laboratory; the first core was re moved last spring after 16.4 megawatt years (MWY) of operation, over 97. more than the design life of 15 MWY. The details of SM-1 design and construction have been previously reported. The second plant listed is the SM-1A, a stationary pres surized water cooled nuclear power plant being constructed with Army funds to supply central station power at Fort Greely, Alaska. It will produce 1,640 Kwe of electric power and 38 million Btu of spjace-heating steam per hour. The SM-1A design is largely a direct extrapolation from the SM-1. Full power operation is scheduled for January 1961. Testing and operation of the plant is expected to provide valuable data concerning nuclear plant applications in /^\ remote frigid areas, including operating costs and crew size and Next on the summary sheet is the SM-2, a 6,000 Kwe sta tionary pressurized water cooled and moderated reactor extrapolated from the SM-1 design. The SM-2 incorporates a major advance in core design; the two-pass core, while the same size as the SM-1, will have a threefold power increase. The SM-2 will be utilized in a 12,000 Kwe plant complex with two SM-2 reactors manifolded to multiple steam turbines. The conplex is being developed for possible employment as a reliable source of extremely high quality power for a variety of fixed installations in either heavily popu lated or remote areas. The SM-2 design program is scheduled for completion in early 1961. No definite construction starting date has yet been established. The next plant is the PM-1, being constructed as an optimized portable, medium power, pressurized water nuclear power plant, jointly funded by the AEG and the Air Force. It will have the capability of being transported by air in 15 plane loads, per mitting rapid on-site erection and test. It will produce 1,000 Kwe

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of high quality electric power and 7 million Btu/hr of space heat, and will have a core life of at least two years. It will permit the use of a minimum operating staff (about 15 men) and maximum relocatability. The PM-1 will be installed and tested in Wyoming by September 1961; its operation is expected to provide valuable data leading to continued improvement of portable pressurized water plants in the medium power range. The degree of portability for a plant of this power level is important; on-site construction time for the PM-1 will be about three months as opposed to the 15-18 months required for the SM-1 plant. The PM-2A, next on the list, is a portable medium power plant. Like the SM-1A, it draws heavily for its design on the SM-1. The plant is a portable PWR with an output of 1,500 Kwe and 1 million Btu/hr of steam heat. It weighs 310 tons (less founda tions) , is designed for factory assembly, and can be shipped in 27 packages. It can be transported by air and is designed for rapid on-site construction and testing (less than 90 days), It was assembled and underwent non-nuclear testing at Dunkirk, New York, in early 1960 and then was disassembled and shipped to northern Greenland, where it will be operational by the end of October 1960 to supply heat and power to an arctic research installation. Operation of the PM-2A will provide valuable data on remote site operational and construction techniques for nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Test Plant (NTP) shown on the summary sheet is being designed for construction as a flexible facility for testing new core designs for water cooled nuclear reactors. The testing will be conducted with the actual operating parameters expected to be realized in full plant operation, and should demon strate whether the tested core is capable of reliable and safe operation as well as provide data for design verification. Its use should make unnecessary a number of prototype plants. The NTP will be operated initially in early 1962 utilizing the primary system of the SM-2 reactor. The second page of the summary lists the ANPP boiling water reactors, and Table II shows some of the technical charac teristics of these plants. The first plant listed is the SL-1, a stationary, low power (200 Kwe) prototype. It has been opera tional at the Idaho National Reactor Test Station (NRTS) since December 1958. It was designed and constructed for the purpose

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BOILING WATER PLAMTS DESIGN TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS Operating Pressure 300 psig 600 psig 600 psig Number of Elements 40 24 24 Number of Control Rods 5 9 9 Number of Packages N/A 10 11 * Does not include foundation or building weight

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of investigating techniques associated with relatively small power outputs at remote sites for military applications. The SL-1 employs a direct boiling water cycle and is light water moderated. The experience and information resulting from SL-1 operation will be used in the design and construction of the PL-1 and PL-2 plants. The PL-1 is being designed as a low power (200 Kwe) nuclear reactor based on the boiling water prototype reactor (SL-1) The PL-1 will be air transportable in 10 packages. The packaging study was completed in October 1959, and the final design is sched uled for approval in late 1960. This optimized, portable, pre packaged plant will permit rapid on-site erection and simplified relocation procedures, and should result in reduction of crew re quirements for operation and maintenance. The PL plants are expected to achieve a relatively low initial capital cost as well as low fuel cycle costs. The PL-2 is being designed as a higher-powered (1,000 Kwe) version of the PL-1. Design goals and schedules are essen tially the same as for the PL-1, with the advantage of greater site requirement flexibility resulting from the increased power The gas cooled reactor program of the ANPP is being pur sued with the goal of producing the first truly mobile reactor for field use for a variety of purposes. The gas cooled reactor experiment (GCRE) shown on the summary sheet is a 2 megawatt, thermal (MWT) nitrogen-cooled test facility constructed at the Idaho National Test Station to study the performance of the gas cooled reactor concept. The Gas Turbine Test Facility (GTTF) has been constructed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to test the perform ance of the power conversion equipment in a closed cycle gas turbine system. The GTTF is fired by an oil heater, uses nitrogen as the working fluid and develops 400 Kwe. Testing of both these facilities began earlier this year, and the operational informa tion obtained from these tests will be incorporated in the design The ML-1 is being designed and fabricated as a proto type mobile gas cooled nuclear power plant incorporating knowledge gained from the operation of the GCRE and GTTF. The plant will be mounted and transported on a standard semitrailer. The plant

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will be designed for packaged shipment by air, rail, or ship; for example, the complete plant including all auxiliary equip ment will be transportable in two aircraft. The reactor package and power conversion package will each weigh 15 tons, and the auxiliary package will weigh five tons. The special control cab will weigh two tons and can be carried on a standard 2% ton truck. The plant can be placed in operation within four to twelve hours after arrival on site; plant shutdown and prepara tion for relocation will require 24 hours. The ML-1, will become operational at the Idaho test site in mid-1961. It will provide 400 Kw of electrical power and will be a true pioneering effort in supplying mobile nuclear power …