Thursday, April 1, 1965 University Daily Kansan
Page 11
KU Scientists Work for Peaceful Atom Use
A dome of earth 800 feet across rises 300 feet in three seconds. Most of it settles immediately, but earth and rock dust continue to rise to about 2,000 feet before drifting and falling to earth. A crater 300 feet deep and a quarter of a mile wide has been dug. Another successful excavation by nuclear devices has been completed.
been completed.
While such a scene, which actually occurred at the Atomic Energy Commission's Project Plowshare testing sites, would probably create a furor among politicians of the world, top engineers and scientists at KU are concerned with another type of problem—the practicality of using the atom peacefully.
the atom peacemaking. Peaceful uses of the atom involve natural resource development of all kinds—from cratering and the processing of chemicals to power production and water desalination.
tion and Russell B. Mesler, professor of chemical engineering at the Nuclear Reactor Center, said that of all applications, probably the most useful is producing electrical power. Excavation seems next best as a practical and likely future use.
"All of the problems—involving safety, economy, and politics—are serious. But most can probably be solved." Dr. Mesler said.
ONE OF THE biggest problems is the economy of the peaceful uses of the atom. Charles F. Weinaug, professor of petroleum engineering, does not foresee many practical methods for petroleum extraction soon. Of one proposed method of petroleum extraction, he said, "The deposits of hydrocarbons occur in thin, spread-out zones, and the spherical cavity created by an explosion is consequently not too practical. In addition, the chances of capturing the energy are quite low."
Of another facet, Prof. Weinaug said, "The oil industry is not seriously considering underground, atom-blasted reservoirs because of the contamination and health problem. What do you do with the petroleum when you get it out of the reservoir? It's contaminated. No one I know has seriously faced the problem."
Prof. Mesler said that economic feasibility is a necessity in the production of electrical power. Based on economics, he said, "A major power company is building a privately financed and operated power plant near Chicago."
SPU Unsure of Picket Success
Student Peace Union (SPU) members evaluated the effectiveness of last week's 100 hours of picketing in front of the Military Science building in their regular meeting last night.
Charles Hook, Glen Head, N.Y. sophomore and president of SPU said, "It's a little bit early to tell the effect of the demonstration."
At the meeting in the Kansas Union members "kicked around five or six different methods as to how we could be effective in the future," Hook said.
Hook said they were planning no more demonstrations since it was so close to spring vacation.
Official Bulletin
TODAY
A.A.C./T.I.A.A. Kansas Union. All Day.
Incipients Meeting, All Day. Kansas
Union.
German Club Informal Meeting, 4:30 to Hawk's Nest, Kansas Union. All are invited.
Wesley Foundation Evensong, 5:00 p.m.
Methodist Center, 1314 Oread.
Methodist Center, 1314 Oread.
biology Colloquium, 7:30 p.m. 206
nationale
Christian Family Movement, 8:00 p.m.
Group 1, Chairman Bill Kackley, VI 2-
0750; 8:30 p.m. Group 2, Chairman Don
Yeats. VI 2-3698.
Experimental Theatre, 8:20 p.m. "U.S.A." Murphy Hall.
Episcopal Evening Prayer, 9:30 p.m.
Danforth Chapel.
TOMORROW
Catholic Masses, 6:45 a.m. and 5:00
p.m. Conferences before and during mass.
Confections before and during mass.
Wesley Foundation Holy Communion,
7:40 a.m. Methodist Center, 1314
Rockefeller Drive
"The cost of producing electricity in the Chicago area is not high. The project is not subsidized. The company building the plant seems to consider atomic power more economic."
7:00-7:20 a.m. Methodist Center, 1314
Oread.
District Music Festival, All Day. Murphy Hall.
7:00-8:00 p.m. Washburn at Lawrence
Country Club.
Friday Flickers, 7:00 and 9:30 p.m. Fraser
Theater.
Experimental Theatre, 8:20 p.m.
"ISA. Murphy Hall.
Epicaloal Evening Prayer, 9:30 p.m.
Danforth Chapel.
Prof. Weinaug added, "The prices of stationary atomic power plants seem to be competitive with petroleum, but no one knows the real cost of atomic production. On a commercial scale, petroleum is one of the cheapest products available to man. Without subsidies, the cost of nuclear power production hasn't been determined, primarily because the A.E.C. provides the nuclear fuel. What is the true cost?
About the atom as a replacement for petroleum as a primary fuel, Prof. Weinauga said, "The shielding is a big problem. It hasn't been sufficiently developed for the atom to work in a motor vehicle for example. What happens when two nuclear vehicles collide on a highway? Would you have to build a new highway around them?
allow exploding devices in the atmosphere. Getting this agreement might take more time and money than digging a canal.
"THEY ARE far enough along with stationary plants to compete with gas. However, the gas market is expanding so rapidly that phasing out of gas plants wouldn't seriously affect the gas market."
The economics of nuclear excavation, or "landscaping," is another question. The A.E.C.'s Project Plowshare has one such excavation project in mind-project Carry-All proposed for southern California. This is a two-mile cut through the Bristol Mountains east of Los Angeles.
With a total cost one-third less than that of conventional methods, project Carry-All involves moving 68 million cubic yards of earth to provide for a double-track railroad and an 8-lane divided highway through the mountains. This excavation project would use 22 nuclear explosives.
Another type of nuclear excavation involves water resource development. Dean John S. McNown of the School of Engineering and Architecture, who has served as a consultant to the Sandia Corporation which manufactures and tests nuclear devices, commented on a typical water problem.
"In West Africa," he said, "the rainy tropics with over 10 feet of rainfall a year are not greatly distant from the regions of sub-Saharan drought.
increasing our capabilities to dig large canals could help solve some serious environmental health problems. First, though, we would need joint projects leading to 'cleaner'
bombs and a psychological acceptance by the residents there. The French learned of the latter problem, and aggravated it, by their explosion in the desert year before last."
MOST PUBLICIZED of the nuclear excavation projects is the proposed Central American trans-isthmus sea-level canal. The longest and most-expensive canal, dug with nuclear explosives, would actually be less expensive than the shortest route if built using conventional methods of excavation.
In terms of economics, nuclear explosives may be the only way the U.S. will get a canal in the near future. But the nuclear test-ban treaty prohibits any radioactivity outside of the area of the U.S. While excavators can probably guarantee that no harmful amounts of radioactivity will be released, they cannot guarantee that no detectable amounts will find their way into the atmosphere.
An agreement between the U.S. and Russia to permit nuclear excavation isn't all that is necessary. Every nation which signed the treaty must also sign an agreement to
"THE PSYCHOLOGICAL problem is great, probably as great as the safety problem. What happens if an accident occurs or, for that matter, how would you like to work in a plant using nuclear processes? And I don't know how to solve these problems."
According to Prof. Mesler, a big public relations job has to be done. "For example," he said, "the explosion of a nuclear power plant in Idaho which killed three men a few years ago made every front page in the country. Yet in the same year, there were three men killed in Lawrence in excavating projects."
SPRING IS SWEATER WEATHER
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