Part IV Appendices - Summaries of Long Range Programs, Atomics International

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The work of the Atomics Intern a km al Division of North American Aviation, Inc. i s discussed separatsly since it i s conducted both i n commercial and i n grwernment facilities. fact that the AEC has a Substantial investment i n the facilities and is merwblmdngly the principal customer of Atomic$ International requires that A I be censtdered i n this study, - ale -tHe commercial character of the organizgtion and of a large pertion of the f a c i u - , ties clearly distinguishes A I from the AEC labqratories. The AEC's oentract pla tien ship with iorth American Aviation began In 1948, when limited reactor develqment and physical reI search work was assigned t o that Company. The relatfonship has been continuous since t h a t time; the program is now carried out through North American's Atomics International Division, Atomics International occupioa company-owned buildings i n awned buildings i n the nearby Santa Susana Hountains and gwernmntawned facilities a t the National Reactor Testing Station, Idaho, company has financed general service equipment i n the buildings it owns9 while AEC has generally supplied specialized equipment necessary t o specific development projects. Total investment is apprdmately $20 mfllion by the AEC and approxhately $20 million by Atomics International, The latter figure includes approximately $3.,6 million wh2ch wasmontrfbuted by Atomics International t o the cost of the

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The AI program can be broadly described under six major 1, Sodium Graphite Reactors. This reactor concgpt was among the the first studied by North American under i t s contract. As part of the AEC's first five-year civilfan power reactor program, North American developed and constructed the SflE. the SRE t o obtain technical data on this concept has continued and has ledto the development of the Hallam Nuclear Pmr Facility, a 75 megawatt-electrica19 SOdiUm graphite reactor being built at Hallam, Nebraska under the Power Demonstration scheduled for completion i n 1961, fic reactors, North Amerfcan carries on an advanced development program on the sodium-graphite concept, including materials and components development and safety studies, Organic Cooled Reactors. sive program i n the development of the organic cooled reactor cept f n 1955 with the assignment of responsibility for the development, design and construction of the OMRE, led t o the power reactor demonstratfon project of the City of Piqua, Ohio, contracts for which were signed i n 1959e To advance this concept, Ndrth American has also under way general develupmnt work i n the organic reactor field and has made studies for the AEC o f various applications of this reactor concept. Construction of this facility has begun and i s 2, North American has under way an intenNorth Amerfcan was given a magor project i n this con-

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3, Milftary Reactors. A growing portion of the work relates t o the It encompasses developments ir craft nuclear prop l sion program, of compact reactors fur military purposes under the SNAP program and developnrent of materials for the Pluto nuclear ram-jet program, 40 General Reactor Technology. In this field A I is engaged i n developing advanced mthods for nuclear msasurements; reactor statics theory; development of advanced fuel, controlp and structural materials for reactors; and develupmnt of reactor safety devices and reactvr comse Separations Systems. Investigations of impruved processes for the separation and decontamination of spent reactar fuels is an inportant adjunct t o the programs of reactor development, Emphasis a t AI is placed on low decontamination pyrometalhrgical pTbcesses, with partfcnlar applicatien t o thermal reactor systems. 6. Physical Research, I n this field,.North American carries out fh nd w n tal studies i n materials, chemistry and physics, The, Atprmies International staff nders approximate3y 2,200, ef whom approximately 1,300 are professional technical personnel, The fac fli ties include general engineering and of'ffoe space, a sodium lab wat ory building, an organic laboratory building, critical experiment facilities, a component development hot cell building, the SRE, OMRE, a water boiler reactor, KEWB (no e tic Experiment on Water Boilers), as well as supporting facilities and special purpose test fnstallations, Goverment-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 contractr

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I n addition t o the AEC work described above, Atomics International is engaged ommercfally in the nuclear reactor field. tions as the BEC program, This work is camied Currently, the commercial activities account for about 4 percent of Atomics International's effort, Civflian Reactors: As is the case generally with thermal converter seactor8,the work on the organic cooled and sodium-graphite reactors will be continned at the present level ferr the next twe or three years. that the the programs will either be terminated or will be gradually reduced each year looking %mardt h e i r elimination by 1968* Nuclear Technology: An approximate 25 percent increase i n the nuclear technalogyprogram as csnducted a t Atomics Internat is nal is expected, major programs will continue t o be inlow decontamination separations development and i n the fuels and materials programs. ~ Mssile Prepnlsion: The AI role i n the Pluto program is currently 8 supporting one in the, materfals field t o LBL. It is expected that the importance of this role will diminish after approximately two or three years5 thereafter, there is no current planning for the utilization Qf AIin the Pluto program, Arudlfary P m r : The A I role in. the SNAP reactor development pragram is made critical by the fact that the program i s geared to a tight schedule prescribed by the Department of Defense and t h a t there is increasing interest In this program on the part of the National Aeronautics and *ace the SNAP program atleast for the next five years. effort thereafter wfll depend on the flow of new requirements and appliW expect9 therefore, that AI will have a very important role i n The trend of the

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Physical Regearch: Basic research in the physical sciences a t Atomics International has primarily been concerned with chemis4iI.g and metallurgy and materials studies. This work w i l l not be con-

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Los Angeles, California Ten Year Trend - Costs, Staff and Facilities (dollar amounts are i n millions) Research and Development Costs:" Reactor Development Program: Civilian pover reactors 16.8 18.0 14.1 9.5 5.3 - 7.3 4.1 1.6 .7 -S a tell it e pover sources General reactor research and development 3.4 4.1 3.5 2.5 1.4 3.2 3.2 3.1 2.5 1.4 Total Reactor Development 28.9 27.6 20.9 14.3 6.8 3.2 3.2 3.1 2.5 1.4 Scientific and engineering Completed Plant and Equipment a t June 30:q 51 Excludes depreciation on AEC facilities and the cost of source and nuclear materials consumed i n research. 51 Not available prior to establishment of Atomics International as a Division of North American Aviation. -d/ Plant projects authorized but not completed a t June 30, 1959 totaled $5.9 million, of which $5.7 million will be located a t Loa Angeles, California.

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Current Budget and Recent Costs by Categories of Work costs costs Budget Reactor Development - Total 20,865 27.573 28,894 Civilian Power Reactors - Total 14,684 17,930 16,753 Sodium Graphite Reactor - Total 7,147 6,378 6,980 Research and Development 5,993 4,804 5,580 Organic Moderated Reactor - Total 5,014 2,765 5,030 Research and Development 4,114 1,634 3,700 Assistance under Power Demonstration Nuclear Technology and General Support - Total 3,532 4,119 3,441 Engineering Physics and Advanced Reactor Reactor Fuels and Materials Development 463 1,857 1,400 Separations Development - Closed Cycle Process 1,987 1 ,117 7 25 Thermal Reactor Safety 868 999 1,166 Missile Propulsion Reactors 1,089 1,378 1,400 Satellite Power Sources 1,539 4,122 7,300 Physical Research - Total 651 832 973 Chemistry Research - Total 366 49 2 583 Chemical Properties and Reactions 223 401 471 Metallurgy and Materials Research - Total 285 340 390 178 188 21 3Alloy Theory andthe Nature of Solids Effects of Irradiations on Materials 107 152 177

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m S OF LONG RANGE PROGRAMS SUBMITTED BY IHE LABCUTORIES Beginning i n the latter half of 1958 the AEC has asked a number of the laboratories, including all of the multi-program institut is ns,to prepare long range programs f o r consideration. such programs would be helpful i n planning not only the work of the indtvidual institutions, b u t of the agency as a whole. It was anticipated that The recommendations of the laboratories are included in t h i s appendix, Some of them, betng lengthy documents, are summarized here for convenience rather than being presented in full texti

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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 a s 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 t h e 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 devices in particular. LIFE SCIENCE emphasis currently is on effects of radiation on 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 An immediate practical aspect 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 effects of continued irradiation of animals at low 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 . GENEBAL 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 purpose reactors (such as high-flux rekearch reactors). Tapering off of ld b oratory work on boiling water reactors is foreseen. Future bmphasis appears aimed at fast reactors - with their associated problems i n metallurgy, chemical engineering and re mB te control ; there is no end t o the list of possible special-burpose reactors. 4 . EDUCATIONAL RESP ON SIBI LI hE S are more capable of being met 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: senior faculty members on sabbatical (or other) leave; two year post-doctoral research appointments ; appointments for graduate students to carry out 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. increase from the present approximately ten percent of staff ef - fort at the Laboratory to atleast twenty percent i s proposed over t h e next few years 5. FACILITIES AND PERSONNEL a.Facilities expansions, totaling $167 million, can be grouped in three categories as follows: e (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 t o these facilities. (2) Laboratory and office space. (3) General service facilities. 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 ScLentific 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 t o 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 i n 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. Table I include temporary personnel which, at present, account for about 10% of the total staff. It is expected that this will increase to a but 20% i n 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 w i l l undoubtedly vary widely, ranging from only a few percent inthe case of divisons with large programmatic responsibil i ties to perhaps 50% or greater in the case of high energy physics The staff numbers i n 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 Je vel s of radioactivity will mean an increase in ratio bf personnel Cnvolved 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 service personnel to staff. trends is 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 i s borne out by the trends in recent years. From the …