Page 16 University Daily Kansan Friday, April 16, 1965
THE UNIVERSITY REACTOR—This special training model with built in safety features is not usually found in comparable "power" machines. Used mainly for research, the Bendix reactor is shown here with an operator.
KU Nuclear Reactor Center Is Kept Busy With Research
In front of the engineering build- in and next to the Phi-Psi house is a harmless looking building with a fearsome title—the Nuclear Reactor Center.
Inside this building is one of the many proofs that KU has entered the nuclear age. It houses KU's nuclear research reactor.
The inmarks of this reactor contain about five pounds of enriched uranium 235, the same element used in the Hiroshima atom bomb. This uranium is contained in aluminium-lined tubes that came to KU directly from the Atomic Energy Commission's Center at Oak Ridge, Teen.
THE UNIVERSITY REACTOR is a special training model with extra safety features that was constructed by the Bendix Corporation. It is of the "swimming pool" type which constantly circulates tap water over the atomic core to both cool the core and act as a shield.
This reactor is particularly safe because there are extra safety measures not found on "power" reactors. It is impossible for the KU reactor to explode. Automatic control rods called "shims" are instantly pushed into the core to stop the reaction at the slightest sign of danger. Also the amount of uranium used in the reactor allows only 1.5 percent excess radioactivity. This means it would be practically impossible for a reaction to get out of control.
The reactor is only used for research. It was licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission to produce power levels under 10 kilowatts. A hydroelectric source like the Hoover Dam can produce 1,974,000 kilowatts. The energy produced by the reactor is only a by-product that raises the temperature of the water in the reactor one or two degrees centigrade.
RUSSELL B. MESLER, professor of chemical engineering, is in charge of the operation of the reactor. KU has no undergraduate degree in nuclear engineering, but a program leading to a master of science degree in nuclear engineering is open to any graduate with a degree in engineering.
Professor Mesler said there are four faculty that teach courses in
INSTANT SILENCE
For information write:
Academic Aids, Box 969
Berkeley, California 94701
the department. He said most of the facilities of the reactor center, however, are used in experiments by other departments. His department will have one graduate this year. It graduated two last year.
The reactor experiments are usually concerned with what happens when a chemical substance is bombarded with neutrons produced in an atomic reaction. There are several methods for putting samples close to the core in the KU reactor.
A pneumatic tube system that uses gas pressure is used to blow samples into the pile. The sample may also be put in one of the hollow core rods and shoved directly into the center of the core. Both of these methods subject the sample to intense bombardment by neutrons to bring about atomic changes.
THE CONTROL RODS, which keep the reactor operating safely are made of the rare metal boron and are cased in aluminum. By inserting and removing these rods, the speed of reaction can be varied.
High school students often visit the reactor. Allan Wirkala, Boston, Mass., sophomore, who helps operate the reactor, said he led a group of high school students up a ladder so they could see the water inside the reactor's "swimming pool" from above. He carefully told each student to be careful not to drop anything in the water. One girl just barely avoided dropping her purse in the reactor which would have required a shutdown of the reactor to remove it. Wirkala learned about atomic reactors when he served on an atomic submarine in the Navy.
Last summer the reactor was used by Midwest Research Institute to evaluate the effectiveness of detergents. The reactor facilities are presently being used by the chemistry, physics and various engineering departments. All of these projects have one thing in common, they couldn't take place at KU unless the reactor existed.
Reds Constructing Hanoi Missile Site
WASHINGTON — (UPI) — The United States has learned that a site is being constructed for Soviet high-altitude anti-aircraft missiles in the Hanoi region of Communist North Viet Nam, officials said today.
They were uncertain, however whether the missiles and the radar guidance assistance and other "hardware" actually had been put in.
To The Sen-Sa-Tions
Back by Popular Demand THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 16th
At the Exciting New
Flamingo
Easter Customs—
(Continued from page 1)
North end of bridge—first right on Elm to end of Elm—then right.
Cover $1.00 per person.
Moses ordered that each Hebrew family sacrifice a lamb without blemish and sprinkle its blood on the doorframe of the house to tell the angel the family was Hebrew and the firstborn was to be spared. Following the sacrifice, the lamb was eaten with traditional unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
noon, 1 and 2 p.m. He will also be holding special services at 9:30 p.m. in Danforth chapel.
The Jewish Passover and Easter are linked significantly because Christ died on Passover Day and because the lamb that had to be sacrificed for the deliverance of Israel is considered by the Church as Christ.
THE IMPORTANT FEAST in the Jewish calendar was observed in thanksgiving for the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, when the firstborn of each Egyptian family was killed by the angel of God, but Israelite children were spared.
The B'nai B'rith Hillel Counselorship will hold its annual Passover Seder at the Hotel Eldridge at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, All students and faculty members are invited to attend. Reservations should be made in 351 Snow Hall or by calling UN 4-3706. There is a charge of $3 for staff members, $2.25 for students and their wives and $1.75 for members.
THE NAME OF "EASTER" refers to the season of the rising sun or the dawn. It is a traditional belief that Easter Day should be begun by rising early enough to see the sun dance as it rises in the sky.
Once it was a popular belief that if the viewer was in the right place and carried a piece of smoked glass to look through he could see the symbol of the Risen Saviour, the Lamb of God with a banner marked with a red cross.
There is an old belief in France that the rays of sunlight penetrating the clouds at dawn on Easter morning are angels dancing for joy at the Resurrection. The Irish had as a custom a dance of joy to greet the sun. The women of the village baked a cake for a prize and the men performed the dance. It is thought that this is the origin of the expression, "he takes the cake."
MILLIONS OF AMERICANS will take part in sunrise services of worship this Easter. The first of these will be at the summit of Cadillac Mountain on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, where the sun first touches this country. There will be services in many of our national parks and aboard our ships at sea.
Lewis Hall will sponsor a sunrise service at 6:45 Easter morning on their patio. The service will
last approximately one-half hour and consist of the Easter Story from the Bible, prayers and the hymns: "Christ Arose," by Robert Lowry and "He Lives," by Rev. A. H. Ackley. There will also be vocal solo by Meredith Stevens, Wichita senior. The service is open to the public.
In our fiftieth state, Hawaii, sunrise services are held annually at the Punchbowl, a passive volcanic crater overlooking the city of Honolulu.
It is customary almost everywhere to put on new clothes for Easter, a complete outfit if possible, at least a new hat or gloves. Once it was common for young men to send gloves to the girls of their choice on Easter Eve. If the present was accepted and she wore the gloves to the morning service the next day it was a sign that the courtship was going well and that it was likely to end in marriage.
COUNTRY PEOPLE believed that if any one wore old clothes to the Sunday service, bad luck would visit him. Poverty was no excuse, for even a new pair of shoelaces was acceptable.
Before the time of Christianity, people put on new clothes to welcome spring and indicate their joy that winter was past.
On Easter Sunday afternoon, an annual Easter parade occurs in towns and cities across the nation as people walk in their new clothes.
The most famous of these parades are those on Fifth Avenue in New York City and on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J.
IN AMERICA, hunting for Easter eggs is very popular among children. The eggs vary from the chocolate cream egg with the child's name written on it in icing to the colored hen's eggs and jelly beans.
The Easter bunny has become the symbol of this season to children in this country. "Catching the hare" was a custom in days past. If he could be caught before ten o'clock on Easter morning and taken to the local parson or minister the captor would receive one hundred eggs.
Even before the time of Christ it was customary to exchange eggs. To people of all ages the egg has represented the new life.
IN ENGLAND messages were written on the eggs that were sent to friends and relatives. Often if the date appeared on the egg they were used years later in establishing facts in family records.
An Easter Egg Hunt for all children under 12 years of age of students, faculty and staff members will be sponsored by the Student Union Activities. It will be at 2:30 p.m. Easter Sunday in Peppermint Park.
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