Evening star., 1956-07-30

SONS venerable lnSClCuLlOn.
The new reactor will be housed
in an impressively functional
looking concrete building of con-
siderable size. 1t will be part of
the graduate School of Engi-
neering which is inaugurating
courses leading to postgraduate
degrees of Master of Nuclear En-
yineering and Doctor of Nuclear
Engineering.
Dean Lawrence r. Quarles of
the School of Engineering pro-
duced a model of the reactor
built by his students. 1t will be
a T-shaped building with solid
walls about 80 feet high and go
Feet long.
Offices in Wing
The larger section will house
the reactor; the wing which is
he upright of the ct" of the
1oor plan. will contain Offices.
This, DR.. Quarles explained
7ill be a Swimming pool" type
# reactor. That is the larger
'ection will be just that, an
lnroofed swimming pool Is feet
1eep, about 80 feet wide and
% feet long.
There are two reasons for
he swimming pool DR.. Quarles
said as he fondly played with
the model, operating its ma
chinery by hand. THE water
Keeps the reactor cool and it
helps contain the radiation"
The reactor, in a large cubic
case. is suspended in the water
from a travelling crane. There
is an alcove in the concrete wall
at one end with three tubular
ports on each side. The crane
can carry the reactor, hanging
deep in the water, into the alcove
and the vents can be opened for
controlled release of the radia-
ton from the reactor for expert
mental purposes.
The reactor will contain about
8 Kilograms (between 6 and n
pounds) of the iSotope, uraniumj
I235. Application will be made to-
the Atomic Energy Commission
for this amount. The Acc, which
lis encouraging this type of basic
research in universities as al
step toward peaceful industrial)
use of atomic energy, is ex-
pected to supply this material,
which is valued at about $780,
900. When its energy is expended
the Acc experts will clean out
the reactor, replace the U-235I
and dispose of the radioactive
waste.
Plant to Cost $5OO,OOO
The university will spend about
$500,000 in constructing the ex-
Iperimental plant. The General
Assembly has appropriated $780,
900 of this and Colgate Darden,
president of the institution, has
500. 900 in private funds for its
construction.
At present there are 81 quail
fed Army officers here studying
atomic energy and the operation
of reactorS. These are the men
who will operate the first pack
age" power reactor now being
built for the Engineering Center
at Fort Belvoir by the American
Locomotive Co.
A package reactor is one that
can be taken down, shipped by
plane and reaSSembled for
power purposes in remote parts
of the world. One of the first
uses in the field planned for
package reactors is along the
Defense Early Warning CDEW)
line above the Arctic Circle. The
prototype for Fort Belvoir will
be completed in December or
January and from then on, it is
expected. that extensive post will
be lighted and powered by
atomic energy.
New to Universities
The study of nuclear engineer
ing in universities is only five
years old. he explained, because
it was not until five years ago
that the Acc declassif1ed enough
information to make it possible.
The Engineering School is an
undergraduate school. Students
may enter directly from high
school. And one must be a
graduate Of an engineering school
to start work for the nuclear
engineering degrees.
AS the subject matter has been
available to universities for only
five years, there are few doctors
and masters of nuclear engineer
ing in the country.
Most of the work Of the can
didates will be in the library
rather than the laboratory or on
the coming reactor. Dean
Quarles pointed to the long book
shelf containing the reports of
the international conference on
atomic energy at Geneva and
estimated that without counting
that mammoth compilation
there is more scientific literature
on atomic energy already in
existence than a man could read
in a lifetime.
Specialization Necessary
This forces specialization. For
instance, a man might do well
to plan his career on just one
aspect Of control of radiation.
The faculty of the engineering
school takes great pride in the
institution. 1t dates, they feel,
from Jefferson, whom they ad-
mire as an engineer. 1t became
a separate school in 1886. THE
university was started. largely by
Jefferson, in 1919. but they are
proudest of William Barton
Rogers. who as professor Of
natural Observation-Disclosures
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