The frontiersman., 1956-10-04
cEA Project Termed Unique kucIear
 Power System by AEc

What AEC caTls "a unique nu- clear power system" is being planned for the Anchorage area, according to a news item appear ing in the September 10 issue of Chemical and Engineering News. Designers of the reactor predict that full development of this type of reactor will result Tn a power plant capable of pro- ducing electricity at a cost of seven mills per kilowatt hour in plants as small as 10000 kw The reactor and is slightly enriched reacotr and is slightly enriched uranium reactor, using sodium as coolant, water as a modera- tor, according to the article.
 A joint proposal for this re- actor was made by Chugiak Flee tric Association and Nuclear Development, White Plains N. Y, under the Power Demon stration Reactor Program. The proposal calls for a power re actor using heavy water as 3 moderator, liquid sodium as cool. ant, and slightly enriched urani. um as fuel. AEC has approved negotiation of a contract for linn ited initial design and develop. ment work on it.
 AEC also authorizes negotia- ton Of contract provisions to proceed with the second phase of the proposal calling for final development and engineering de sign, and the final phase, con. struction and operation of the plant, provided results of com pleted phases justify eontinua. ton of the project.
 If it is decided to complete the project, the article states total assistance requested of AEC would be a maximum Of $18,325 ,000 for development, de sign, and construction of the reactor and for postconstruction research and development work Of this amount, $5.5 million is for the reactor itself to which AEC would retain title.
 Chugiak Electric would pro- vide the reactor site, the turbine generator facilities, and build. ings to house the plant and asso- ciated facilities. 1t would assume capital costs totaling $1 1,830, GOO
 In physical form, the article states, the Chugach reactor will consist of a tank of heavy water from six to eight feet in diane, ter, tightly sealed except for a e1osed.eyele heat exchanger which extends into the tank to carry heat away from the mod orator.
 Immersed in the tank, in a lat tice arrangement, it was explain. ed, will be all array Of stainless steel pipes more than six feet long Each pipe will contain g cluster of stainless steel-clad UT anium rods, three quarters of an inch in diameter and about six feet long. The pipes will open al each end into tank of liquid sodium which flows around the fuel elements, picks up the heat generated in the fission process and then transfers it to a heal exchanger to generate steam al temperatures and pressures ac eeptable to conventional modern turbine generator.
 Surrounding the heavy water tank is reflector of graphite to minimize the escape of neutrons from the system. A 10-inch iron shield surrounds the reflector to trap any neutronS that may pass through the reflector. High-den sity concrete to protect operat ing personnel from gamma rays forms the outer covering.
 Nuclear power in Alaska, the article states, is expected to com pete favorably in price with the best available hudroelectrie sites, which produce power in the 10 to 12 mill bracket.