REPORT ON REACTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The Subcommittee on Reactors, Materials and Production visited several
installations this summer to learn more of the status and plans of the reactor
development program.
Dr, Libby, Mr. Murphree, Dr. Rabi, Dr. Warner, Mr.
Whitman, and Dr. Wigner were at Argonne on July 7, 8, and 9.
Mr. Murphree,
Dr. Warner, Mr. Whitman, and Dr. Wigner were at Oak Ridge on Sept. 21, 22, and
23, and at General Electric's aircraft reactor center near Cincinnati on Sept.
24 —- Dr. Libby participated on Sept. 23 and 2k. |
The main topics discussed in these visits were the Boiling Reactor and the
Fast Breeder at Argonne; the Homogeneous Reactor, the Sodium-Graphite Reactor
(by North American Aviation), the Liquid-Fuel Aircraft Reactor (with Pratt and
Whitney representatives participating) and the Sodium-cooled Heterogeneous Air-
‘craft Reactoi=dseigazef Nuclear Development Associates at Oak Ridge; and the
Air-cooled Aircraft Reactor at General Electric.
Dr. Staebler of Dr. Hafstad's
office accompanied and assisted the Subcommittee throughout.
the various projects were most cooperative.
The personnel of
Gen. Keirn and his staff partici-
pated in the aircraft reactor programs, and Gen, McCormack, Deputy Chief of Air
Force Development, accepted our invitation to attend these sessions.
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Several general observations are pertinent:
1.
We were favorably impressed by the enthusiasm and competence
of the main groups.
2.
Our questioning emphasizeda realistic appraisal of the programs
and prospects for the next few years and ideas as to how the solution of the
most critical problems might most effectively be accelerated.
Each of the
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major development projects was examined as to its possible relevance to theons®
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