Evening star., 1961-03-13

intervals so as to inject into
the copper pipe a travelling jolt
Of electricity sufficient to light
a city Of $4,000 inhabitants.
When you have done this
high-level imagining, you have
come close to envisioning Prof.
ect M, the two-mile linear
electron accelerator at STAN
ford University in California.
You begin to see why its de-
Signers and hackers call it
"The Monster"
If Congress gives the 60
ahead this year, work will be-
gin in earnest on a six-year,
$107 million project to provide
the scientific world with a
huge new tool for probing the
ultimate secrets Of matter.
Acc Backs Funds
The Atomic Energy Commits
sion has r. C o m m e n d e d full
funding Of the project, and the
Joint Congressional Committee
on Atomic Energy is expected
to hold hearings on the request
shortly. Approval is far from
cut-and-dried, because Of the
existence Of other costly, high
priority projects in this years
budget.
Too big and complicated a
job for one outfit to handle, the
advance planning and manage
ment are in the hands Of a joint
venture of three California
firms, Observation-Disclosures
The first element Of the part
nership is a General Tire Co.
subsidiary experienced in de-
sign and supervision Of "far-
out" construction projects; the
second is q noted architectural
concern, and the third is q con-
struction contractor Of high
repute.
When the Monster was first
suggested, some eyebrows were
raised at the thought Of build
ing an ultra precision physical
research tool two miles long
virtually athwart the great San
Andreas earthquake fault in
California. The site finally Sc
lected is stable, and there is no
danger of tremblors wrecking
the 500 million machine, says
Harold H. Nicholson, an Aetron
engineer familiar with the
project.
Radiation Hazard
Although there are q lot of
problems associated with high
precision construction Of this
type, none of these Is without
precedent, Mr.. Nicholson says.
At any event, the problems
have been vastly simplified by
a decision to build the ma
chimes two two-mile parallel
tunnels by the cut-and-cover
method rather than by tunnel
ing.
Because radiation hazards
are associated with all atom
smashers, the public must be
protected by large quantities
of earth. Thirty five feet Of soil
plus several feet of Struc-
tural concrete-will isolate the
accelerator tube and shield
the outside world from its ra-
diation. Thirty-five feet Of
shielding is not absolutely nee
essary for q 10-to-20-b billion
volt machine such as the Mon
ster. but will be provided be-
cause Of plans to increase the
energy level eventually to
more than 40 billion volts.
In aligning the four-inch
copper pipe which will carry
the electrons, an error Of no
more than one-eighth inch off
dead straight will be allowed
along its 10,000-foot length
Once leveled, this pipe must be
kept absolutely straight job
which will be done by q sys-
tenn Of electronically operated
jacks.
Must Harmonic
Not only must the Monster
be a thing Of extreme preci-
sion, built with regard to ra-
biological safety, but it must
also blend harmoniously with
the other buildings Of one OF
the country's most beautiful
college campuses. All these
things are taken into account
in the planS-and cost eSti-
mates-of what the Acc esti-
mates as q $107.2 million job
and which Joint Committee
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