Evening star., 1950-02-03
Atomic Bomb Production
Costs Reduced Materially
Savings High as so Per Cent Reported
In Major Essential Operations
By Thomas r. Henry


By Thomas r. Henry
The cost of atomic bombs has been mate
rally reduced.
Great savings-as much as so per cent in
some cases-insmajor essential operations in
bomb production have been reported by the
Atomic Energy Commission.
The manufacture, because of improved
equipment and processes, is being brought
away from individual fabrication of every
part which, in general, has been necessary
in the past.
A notable step reported by the commission
Is cutting m half the cost of obtaining the
elusive Uranium 235, an unknown amount
of which is a necessary starting point for
every bomb. This form of uranium is the
only fashionable material known in nature.
1t exists mixed with ordinary non-fssionable
material in ratio OF about atom to 140.
One of Major Hurdles.
The problem of separating it, impossible by
any chemical procedure, was one of the
major hurdles in the production Of the
atomic bomb. The most practical means at
hand was by physical process known as
thermal diffusion. When gas composed
of molecules of different weights is heated,
the lighter molecules tend to rise to the top
OF the mixtures where they can be filtered
of into another chamber, or cell, of the ap-
paratus. There the same process Is repeated,
After this has been done thousands of timeS
gas with very much higher percentage
OF the lighter molecules is obtained.
When the atomic bomb project started
nuclear scientists were appalled, by the sheer
magnitude of work necessary to carry out
this separation on a scale large enough to
be Of any value. With uranium 1t was par
ticularly difficult and hazardous. The only
IN, Nxhi Hao ali
cofporated Is mixture with fiuorine-
uranium hexafluoride. This is about the most
corrosive material in existence. About the
only metal fairly resistant to it Is gold, and
at one time it seriously was proposed to
remove a considerable amount of gold from
Fort Knox in order to build q superuraniun
still.
Solved In Other Ways.
The problem eventually was solved In other
ways. but until very recently it has remained
inordinately expensive. There was no time
for experimenting with only the object Of
saving money in the war years. Once .
process was known to work 1t had to bs
used regardless of cost.
The original plant at Oak Ridge, Tenn.
still is in use, although its efficiency has been
greatly improved. Similar plants are pro-
jected at other stations. The Oak Ridge
plant covers 60 acres. The corrosive gas is
pumped by thousands of pumps through
thousands of miles of pipe and passed
through tens of thousands Of filters repre-.
senting an area of several square miles.
The gradual improvements since the war
have cut the cost of relatively pure Uranium
235 in half. OF course, it is still enormously
costly. But greater improvements are in
prospect. A new piping system between two
units, for example, has resulted in produc-
ton of an additional million dollars worth
of U-235 year. This new system cost
$500, 600.
The plant is the worlds most gigantic
plumbing job" It often has been said that
Americas real atomic bomb secret lay in
plumbing, not in the basic science which
never was much of secret from anybody.
But this kind of plumbing is so complex that
it is almost beyond the human brain thor.
oughly to comprehend it. Atomic Energy
Commission scientists have turned to some Of
the great brain machines, the mechanical
calculators which solve in few seconds prob
lens which would engage corps of human
computers for months. 1.@ f.7 H-"et7
Findings of Electric Brains.
It is from the findings of these electric
brains that some of the major improvements
have resulted Additions to the plant based
on new principles are expected soon to bring
further savings
The tens of thousands OF filters through
which the corrosive uranium hexanuorids
must pass were extremely short-lved, due
to the extremely corrosive properties Of the
gas. This made necessary step which es-
sentially has established a new field Of
chemistry with far-reaching implications. A
vraiety of plastics was produced in which
nuorine itself was combined with hydrogen
In much the same way that carbon and
hydrogen are combined to form the hydro.
carbons, the basic building blocks Of living
nature. .>,...
One Of these plastics was q remarkable
substance, duorothene. which seems about
the toughest stuff in existence. It seems
completely inert to strong acids or any other
chemical processes which bring deterioration.
Improvement in accessory instruments
alone. the commission reports, has cut the
cost of U-235 production by more than
$750,o00.
Regardless Of improvements, not many
bombs could be made of U-235 alone. The
major ingredient must be plutonium, the
man-made synthetic fashionable element
which does not exist in nature, but which
must be manufactured by the action Of U-23S
on ordinary uranium.
Efficiency in Production.
Production of plutonium is itself an ex.
tremely costly process It's efficiency, how
ever, has been greatly improved of late, the
commission reports, and notable cost reduce
tions are indicated
Under any process relatively small
amount of the original uranium changes into
plutonium. The complex chemical processes
must be carried out entirely by remote con-
troll. The separation plant, longer thar, a
football field, must be surrounded entirely
by thick concrete walls. Otherwise, ths
emanations would be fatal to everybody in
the neighborhood =
Once the plutonium actually is separated.
however, less precaution is necessary. Il
emits only relatively harmless alpha particles
which will not penetrate the skin. It ID.
however, an extremely virulent poison II any
dust is breathed into the lungs.
The commission reports that it is con.
sidering steps which will Completely alter
the methods" now used for plutonium pro-
duction.
81 Rnn%e