Uranium Fuel Can Be Produced Relatively As Cheaply As Coal

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27274, 28 December 1949, Page 5

Uranium Fuel Can Be Produced Relatively As Cheaply As Coal

NZPA—Copyright Rec. 8 p.m. NEW YORK, Dec. 26. New uranium fuel can now be produced relatively as cheaply as coal, a leading atomic scientist said today. Dr John Dunning, Columbia University scientist, told the general meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that the cost of new uranium fuel is between 10,000 and 25,000 dollars per lb, which is equivalent to ten dollars per ton for coal. The equivalence is due to the fact that one lb of uranium 235 contains as much heat as 2000 tons of coal. Dr Dunning was associated with the construction of the gaseous diffusion plant at Oakridge (Tennessee) which produced uranium 235 during the war. Dr Dunning said the reduction in the cost of production of uranium 235 was one of the first important steps towards the achievement of atomic power. The United States is said to have built a second diffusion plant and is constructing a third for the production of fissionable materials, including uranium 235.

Dr Dunning did not say how much uranium 235 was being produced but Dr Neils Bohr, a Danish,scientist who has assisted in the atomic bomb production, said after the war the single Oakridge plant was producing six lb daily. Dr Dunning said the third plant for diffusion would be onequarter the size of the first building. The great advantage of the diffusion process was that the only power cost was that of pumping gas through many thousands of strainers. He said it was a trip of 20 miles to walk past the panels of automatic instruments which control this uranium production process.

Predicting that scientists would discover better and cheaper ways of producing atomic power, Dr Dunning said: “When uranium fission converts only one part in 1000 of mass into energy we certainly have plenty of room for some faith in the future and some new ideas and discoveries.”