-12~
MTR
the need for more experimentation on radiation damage.
The MTR will be
very useful for this if managed so as to minimize red tape.
The difficul-
ties of experimenting at Hanford were contrasted with the excellent coopera-
tion found at Chalk River once official approval was obtained.
Dr. Zinn
felt that polonium production with the MTR would not necessarily jeopardize
research use, and, in any case, that it should not.
Argonne
Reactors
Dr. Zinn listed Argonne's present reactor development jobs in order
of descending priority.as:
CP-6, STR, EBR, CP-5 (Argonne research reactor),
CP-7 -- ANL work on MTR being of unspecified priority.
He discussed some -
ef the technical aspects of the Savannah River Reactor (CP-6) design and
indicated the feasibility of operating at reduced power with depleted
uranium.
At this point (3:15 pen.) Commissioner Pike joined the meeting.
Br. Zinn said that bhe cost of the Savannah River reactors would be
dominated by an AEC requirement to bomb—proof them; otherwise they might
CP~7
compare favorably with graphite design.
He went on to mention some features ©
of the CP-7, essentially a CP~6 design modified to operate at higher
temperature and generate usable power.
Corrosion was expected to be a
serious problem with Al sheathed fuel clements; Zr cladding was deemed
feasible but development of Zr metallurgy and increased availability of
ér would be necessary.
Radiation decoxposition of the water was discussed;
the program of basic rescarch on this subject was outlined by Dr. Gilbreath.
It was felt that radiative decomposition of the Dg0 would not be an
insuperable problem in CP-7.
|
Dr, DuBridge acted as Chairman for a short time while Dr, Oppenheimer
was out of the room.