ATOM-GENERATED POWER

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26986, 11 March 1953, Page 9

ATOM-GENERATED POWER

Successful Test In United States

(Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK, March 9. A new type of nuclear reactor for supplying heat for the generation of electricity has been successfully tested, it was announced today. The United States Atomic Energy Commission called the development an important milestone in the search for economical atom-generated electric power. It added that many problems remained to be solved and there was a long way to go before atomicproduced electricity could compete with present power stations. In new reactor, known as a homogeneous reactor, a solution is raised to a high temperature by the reaction of uranium. The solution is then passed through pipes in a boiler to raise steam, which in turn operates the turbo-generator for the production of electricity. The commission said that the geneous reactor was the first to operate at a temperature high enough to run a standard powerhouse turbogenerator. The reactor was built at the National Laboratory at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at a cost of more than 1,000,000 dollars plus another 3,000,000 dollars for research and development. The experiment with the reactor on February 24 produced 150 kilowatts of electricity or enough to serve 50 average homes. 50 DIVISIONS FOR N.A.T.O. STRENGTH AT END OF 1953 (Rec. 8 p.m.) OTTAWA. March 9. Lord Ismay, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, said today that by the end of the year N.A.T.O will have more than 50 wellequipped divisions under one command. and 4000 front-line aircraft ‘‘This is not enough, but it is something, he told the Canadian Club of Montreal.

At the Lisbon conference last year MA T -°- leaders had set a tentative 1953 goal of 75 divisions, but later said that this target would not be reached.