Part IV Appendices, the Future Role of the Atomic Energy Commission Laboratories

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The work of the Atomics International Division of North American Aviation, Inc. is discussed separatsly since it i s conducted both in commercial and ing wsr ment facilities. fact that the AEC: has a subst ant fal investment in the facilities and i s merwhelmingly thp principal customer of AtomicS International requires that A I be censidered in this study, while tHe commercial character of the organizgition and of a large portion of the facilit i e s clearly dislifnguishes AI from the AEC laboratories, The AEC’s contract relationship d th North American Aviation fn 1948, when limited reactor development and physical re-began search work was assigned t o that Company. continuous since that time ; the program is now carried aut through North American’s Atomics Internat fond Dfvfsion, The relationship has been m e d buildings i n the nearby Santa Susana Mountains and gavernmntowned facilities at the National Reactor Testing Station, Idaho. company has financed general service equipment i n the buildings it owns, while AEC has generally supplied specialized equipment necessary to specific development projects, $20 million by the AEC and approxfmately $20 millfon by Atomics wMch was mn tribute d by Atomics International to the cost of the Total investment is approximately The latter figure includes approximately $3.6 million Sodium Reactor E,xperiment (SRE) and t h e Organic Moderated Reactor

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The AI program can be broadly described under six major 1. Sodium GraphLte Reactorsc This reactor concept was among the the first studied by North American under i t s contract. As part of the LLEC’s first five-year civilian power reactor program, North American developed and constructed the SRE. Operation of the SRF, t o obtain technical data on this concept has continued and has led to the development of the Hallam Nuclear Fewer being built,at Hallam, Nebraska under the Power Demonstration scheduled for completion i n 1961, Construction of‘ this facility has begun and i s fic reactors, North American carries on an advanced development program on the sodium-graphite concept, including materials and components development and safety studies, 2, Organic Cooled Reactors, sive program i n tRe development of the organic cooled reactor North American has under way an intencept i n 1955 w5th the assignment of resp on sibi lft y for the development, design and construction of the OMRE. Nmth American was given a major project in this conled tothe power reactor demonstration project of the City of Piqua, Ohio, contracts for which were signed i n 1959. To advance this concept, North American has also under way general d e - velqment work inthe organic reactor field and has made studies for the AEC o f various applications of this reactor concept.

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3, Mllftary Reactms,- A growing portion of the work relates t o the It encompasses developmentd r craft nuclsar propulsion program, of compact reactors for militarg purposes under the SNAP program and developmnt of materials fsr the P l u t o nuclear ram-jet program, 4. General Reactor Technology. In this field A I is engaged i n developing advanced methods for nuclear measurements; reactor statics theory; development of advanced fuel, control, and struct-1 materials for reactors; and development of reactor safety devices and reactor comse Separations Systems, Investigations of impraved processes for the separation arid decontamhation of spent reactor fuels is an i m - port ant adjunct t o the programs of reactor development, a t AI is placed on low dec on td nation pyrometallurgical processes, with particular applicatfon t o thermal reactor systems, sical Research, I n this field .North American carrie a out6 . Phy - findamental studies in materials, chemistry and physics, me AtomPcs 'International staff numbers approximately 2,200, ef whom approxfmately 1,300 are professional technical personnelo The fac fli ties include general engineering and office space, a sodium laboratory building an organic laboratory building, critical experiment facilities a component development hot cell building the SRE, OWB, a water boiler reactor, KEWB (Kinetic Experiment on Water Boilers),as dell as supporting facilities and special purpose test installations, Gwerment-owned buildings are located on North Americanowned land which the Government has an option t o buy a t any time during the life of the contract&

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I n additfan t o the AEC work described abwe, Atomics International i s engaged o a mercia ll yin the nuclear reactor field, out using only Company-owned facilities, but inthe same genera1,locations as the AEX prtsgram, This work i s carried Currently, the commercial activities accmnt f o r about 4 percent of At edc s International ' s effort, Civilfan Reach om :- Asis the case generally with thermal converter reactors, the work on the organic cooled and sodium-graphite reactors will be continued a t the present level for the next two o r three years- A t that the the programs will either be terminated or will be gradually reduced each year llaoking toward their ellmination by 19680 Nuclear Techmolopy: An approximate 25 percent increase i n the nuclear technology program as conducted a t Atomics International is expected. The major programs will continue t o be i n low decontamination separations development and i n the fuels and materials programs, Essile Propulsfon: The AI role in the Pluto program is currently a supportfng one i n the materials fb ld to LRL, It is expected that the importance of this role will diminish after approximately two or three years; thereafter, there i s no current planning for the utilization of AIin the Pluto program, Auxiliary Power:- The A I role i n the SNAP reactor development program is made cr f tie al by the fact that the program i s geared to a tight schedule prescfibed by the Department of Defense and that there is increasing interest in this program on the part of the National Aeronautics and Space the SNAP program atleast for the next five years, effort thereafter tAll depend on the flow of new requfrements and appliWe expeat, therefore, that A I will have avery important role in The trend of the

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Physical Resparch: Basic research i n the physical sciences a t Atomics Internat h nal has primarily been concerned with chemistry and metallurgy arld materials studies. This work w i l l not be con-

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Ten Year Trend - Costs,Staff and Facilities (dollar amounts are in millions) Re sea rc and Deve pment costs:&’ Reactor Develop ent Program: Civilian power reactors Satellite power sources General reactor research and development Total Reactor Development Physical Research Program Total Research and Devt:lopment Personnel at June 30: Scientific and engineering Completed Plant and Equipment: at June 30:&’ National Reactor Testing Station,Idaho aJ Excludes depreciation on AEC facilities and the cost of source and nuclear materials consumed in research. -c / Not available prior to establishment of Atomics International as a Division of North American Aviation. -d / Plant projects authorized but not completed at June30, 1959 totaled $5.9 million,of which $5.7 million will be located at Los Angeles,California.

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Current Budget and Recent Costs by Categories of Work costs costs Budget Reactor Development - Total Civilian Power Reactors - Total Research and Development Sodium Graphite Reactor - Total Organic Moderated Reactor - Total Research and Development Assistance under Power Demonstration Nuelear Technology and General Support - T o t a l 3,532 4,119 Engineering Physics and Advanced Reactor Reactor Fuels and Materials Development Separations Development - Closed Cycle Process 2 1 25Merchant Ship Reactors - Advanced Studies Missile Propulsion Reactors Satellite Power Sources 651 832 973P hy s ical Research - Total Chemistry Research - Total Chemical Properties and Reactions Metallurgy and Materials Research - Total Alloy Theory and the Nature of Solids Effects of Irradiation s on Materials

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Beginning i n the latter half of 1958 the AEC has asked a number of the laboratories, including all of the multi-program institut ien s,to prepare long range programs f o r consideration. such programs would be helpful in planning not only the wark of the individual instii;utions, but of the agency as a whole. It was anticipated that The recommendations of the laboratories are included i n this for convenience rather than being presented in full text. Some I d them, being lengthy documents, are summarized here

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SUMMARY OF LONG RANGE PROGRAM SUBMITTED BY ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY (Section I of this summary sets forth highlights of the program as projected by the Laboratory, including tabular summaries of facility and personnel requirements. summary of the program in outline form.) Section I1 presents a more comprehensive 1. PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH i s now principally in low-energy physics; work also is carried on i n general chemistry with particular emphasis on the heavy elements, high temperature research, solid - state science, and physical metallurgy. Significant expansions are proposed i n high-energy nuclear physics,solid state science, high temperature research, the physical metallurgy of plutonium, electronic instrumentation in general and computing devises in particular. LIFE SCIENCE emphasis currently is on effects of radiation on2. living systems, including studies of the effects of both internal and external radiation on animals and epidemiological studies of exposed human beings. is the evaluation of hazards and the setting of permissible dose rates. Tracer techniques are used in studies in plant science, and labelled organic compounds are produced by growing plants in special growth chambers. Major expansions are contemplated i n the study of the chronic An i mediate practical aspect effects of continued irradiation of animals atlow levels of intensity, and in plant science.

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3 . REACTOR DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING work a t the Laboratory is now directed principally toward the development of reactors for civilian uses; with emphasis on the breeding principle. emphasis i s proposed t o focus on general engineering research fields rather than on specific reactor problems. a . GENERAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH includes reactor physics, heat engineering ,reactor control, metallurgy related to reactors, chemical engineering involved inthe processing of fuels, remote control and meteorology (as it bears on reactor safety) ; a general expansion is propbsed for work in this area with the most striking increase in micrometeorology. SPECIFIC REACTOR PROBLEMS fall into the general categories of boiling water reactors,fast reactors, and special - purpose reactors (such as high-flux research reactors). Tapering off of laboratory work on boiling water reactors is foreseen. Future tmphasis appears aimed at fast reactors with their associated problems i n metallurgy, chemical engineering and rembte control ; there is no end to the list of possible special-burpose reactors. 4. EDUCATIONAL RESPONSIBILI'hES are more capable of being m e t under the increasing relaxation of security restrictions. Laboratory activities in this field, krequently i n cooperation with midwestern colleges and uni verb i ties, include: appointments for senior faculty members on sabbatical (or other) leave; two year post-doctoral research appointments; appointments for graduate students to carryout research for their master ' s and doctor ' s

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these s ; summer appointments for faculty members and graduate students ; appointments for undergraduates, including cooperati ve students ; and finally, summer institutes for faculty members of engineering colleges and technical institutes. An increase from the present approximately ten percent of staff ef - fort at the Laboratory to atleast twenty percent is proposed over the next: few years 5. FACILITIES AND PERSOML a.Facilities expansions, totaling $167 million, can be grouped in three categories as follows : 1 (1) Specialized research and development facilities, including such items as new reactors,additions to presently existing or authorized facilities such as the ' ZGS, and maintenance and improvements to these facilities. (2) Laboratory and office space. (3) General service facilities. b. Personnel strength is proposed t o be expanded from the current 3450 t o 5850 by 1964 and 6700 by 1969.

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--SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL DIVISIONS Biology and Medical Computer Research and Development High Energy Physics Particle Accelerator Operation and Development Solid State Sciences -1/ Numbers in parentheses under 1959 represent staff members currently carried under other divisional totals. SUMMARY OF ESTIMATED PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS Scientific and Technical Divisions Staff 885 1650 1925 Scientific and Technical Divisions Direct Support 864 1550 1825 Supporting Technical Services 595 990 1050 General Services and Administration 1060 1615 1850 *See notes on following page.

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*In Tables I and I1 the term " staff " refers only to academically qualified scientists and engineers engaged in their professional capacities directly on the research and development program of the laboratory. The term certain administrative assistance assigned directly to the divisions responsible for the res,earch and development program. The term "supporting technical services " includes primarily the machine shop, the industrial hygiene and safety and the medical personnel regardless of any professional The staff requirements for the scientific and technical divisions are presented in Table I essentially along divisional organization lines. However, i n those cases where the long range program of the laboratory indicates significant expansion which might not fit into the present divisional pattern or which might affect programs i n more than one division, the pertinent staff figures are itemized separately. The staff numbers i n Table I include temporary personnel which, at present, account for about 10% of the total. staff. It i s expected that this will increase to a hut 20% in the next few years. The temporary personnel would consist primarily of individual with temporary post - doctoral appointments and faculty members from universities on temporary leaves or sabbaticals, The percentage of temporary appointments will undoubtedly vary widely, ranging from only a few percent inthe ease of divison s with large programmatic responsibil i ties to perhaps 50% or greater in the case of high energy physics I n Table I1 are listed the total personnel requirements of the Laboratory. Given first the number of staff,the requirements for direct support, for the supporting technical services and for general services and administ ration have been based on the experience of the last several years with suitable allowance being made for the trends indicated in the long range scientific and technical program. Thus, the increased use of higher levels of radioactivity will mean an increase in ratio of personnel involved in radiation safety activities to the total staff. The rapid expansion of the Idaho reactor program likewise will result in an increased ratio of service personnel to total staff. On the other hand, the decrease in security and classification problems should decrease the ratio of ser vise personnel to staff. From the over - all standpoint,the sum of such trends i s expected to result in a significant decrease in the ratio of total service personnel to total staff as the size of the staff grows. This is borne out by the trends in recent years.

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CIJRRENT STATUS OF FACILITIES ?/- ES TIMATJ3D Facilities Currently Under Construction Zero Gradient Synchrotron. Fuels Technology Center Fuel Fabrication Facility Biology Building Addition - Dog Kennels Coincidence Beta Spectroscopy Facility (Chem. Fast Source Reactor (Z&&S) Facilities Authorized by Congress - Construction Not Started Chemistry Mot Laboratory Zero Power Reactor Facilities Tandem Van de Graaff (10 Mev) Facilities Included in FY 1960 …