Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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materials, while the money for work- ers' and scientists' wages will come from the colleges, universities, pri- vate enterprises, and other interested sources. At the present time, any individual can go to any one of these laboratories and work on atomic re- search after first being investigated by the government. Also, the Atomic Energy Commission has recently es- tablished a 51,000,000-a-year pro- gram, which is expected to run for five years, to send graduate students to universities all over the country for training in atomic research in medi- cine and biology. The whole object in expending all this money for research, is the improving of techniques for releasing and utilizing atomic energy for peacetime purposes. Atomic energy is the heat, light, and power emitted when a stray neu- tron hits an atom of the element urani- um, and splits the atom into particles, some of which are neutrons. The splitting of the atom is called afis- sion, and from this fission, the neu- trons which were released bounce away at aterrific speed and split every time, a chain reaction is thus devel- oped and an explosion occurs. The atomic bomb is just this type of chain reaction, but if the fission can be made to occur slowly, it can be controlled, and the heat and energy utilized. To slow down the fission, the uranium slugs or cylinders are packed in graphite which repels the passage of the neutrons, and the chain reaction is slowed down sufficiently so that an explosion does not occur, and only the heat from the fission is emitted. In view of utilizing atomic energy for peacetime purposes, there are 4 . three major problems and hundreds of minor ones which confront the sci- entist and engineer in their search for new uses of the energy. The first and greatest is the selection of structural materials which are capable of with- standing the intense heat evolved from the atomic fission. Second, is the de- velopment of methods of extracting the heatfrom the atomic system. The third andforemost, as a safety factor, is the protection of workers from the lethal gamma rays which are constant- ly given off by the fission. The only protection foreseen now is the con- struction orf huge lead or concrete shields, perhaps a foot thick, which would repel those deadly rays and insure safety to the workers. The hun- dreds of minor problems develop chiefly from these three major ones. As research continues and the solutions to the problems are found, the prophecies for the future of atomic energy will be based more on fact. The persons who are able to predict with the greatest accuracy are, of course, the scientists, and those on the Atomic Energy Commission guess that it will be five years before atomic energy can be used in peacetime in- dustry. Dr. Lyle B. Borst of the Brookhaven Laboratory predicts that in ten to twenty years atomic energy will compete with coal as an industrial fuel. Although atomic energy is es- timated to cost 2.696 more than coal, its heat energy is twenty-nine times greater than that of coal. Other sci- entists entertain the belief that in thirty to fifty years, atomic energy can supplement the resources of the world. It may not be too fantastic to contemplate that someday the North

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cation through the use of this mon- ey. Many schools also sponsor a .Tun- ior Red Cross wherein the students give money or gifts to be made into gift kits, which are sent to foreign chil- dren. Such kits contain useful articles carefully selected by a committee. Unesco is non-political. It has been called into existence to serve all people without distinction or race or nationality. It is non-sectarian. The fact that Doctor Huxley, Director General of Unesco, is an atheist has caused criticism. Unesco's funda- mental principle, however, is educa- tion a.nd surely an atheist needs educa- tion. Military experts tell us that there is no military defense against the weapons of modern war. If that is true, then we must find a greater de- fense. Where better can we look than at the Preamble to the Constitution of Unesco where we find these stirring words: Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be con- structed.' It is for us the youth of today to help construct these defenses. We must strive to lift human thinking to planes where understanding, mutual sympathy, andfriendliness abide. Un- less we of this generation realize our responsibility to the human race there will be no next generation. We must either exchange ideas or bullets. Thus in conclusion may we quote from Milton S. Eisenhower, Chairman of the United States Commission for Unesco: 'It is essential for each citi- zen to constitute himself a one -person committee on Unesco, and by reading, reflection, and discussion develop a deep understanding of cultures, peo- ples, and problems--for such under- standing is the platform on which the kindly people of the world who want peace must take their stand. 7! PEACETIME POTENTIALITIES OF ATOMIC ENERGY By Winthrop Wade Since the dropping of the second atomic bomb and the end of the war, the United States government and the world have been ever watchful of the fut1u'e of atomic energy. Every na- tion in the world realizes its power and therefore, the control of the atom and atom bomb has been hotly de- bated in the chambers of the United Nations, and naturally the United States has taken a firm stand on its control and is itself making great progress in the harnessing of atomic energy for peacetime use. The United States government has allocated S7 5,000,000 for atomic re- search. It has established three na- tional laboratories to work on peace- time atomic energy: the Brookhaven Laboratory, on Long Island, the Ar- gonne Laboratory outside Chicago, and the Clinton Laboratories at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Affiliated with these three national laboratories are fifty-two colleges and universities which use these laboratories to carry on experi- ments for the government. Although these laboratories have their own staffs and workers, the colleges play a large part in marming them. Under the present program, the 375,000,000 will be expended for equipment and 3

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and South Poles will boast cities which are lighted and heated by nuclear fission. It is inevitable that some predic- tions will become realizations, and re - cent experiments have proved that atomic energy can be used by indus- try as a source of power. The first step in producing industrial power from nuclear fission is to possess a depositof controlled uranium fusually used in the form of small cylindersl which is called an atomic pile. The principle is to use the heat energy from the fission of the pile to heat a cooling agent, such as water, steam, or a liquid metal in a chain reactor unit. Then this coolant is passed through a heat exchanger, and the steam produced, which is under im- mense pressure, would be used to turn an ordinary turbine. The turbine, in turn, would provide the power for the machinery of a plant or generate elec- tricity to light cities. Possibly, just the heat from the fission would be used in its elementary state to heat the homes or factories of a metropo- lis. The most extensive project for research in atomic power is the recent constructionof the Knolls Laboratory in Schenectady, New York, which is being manned imder the supervision of the General Electric Company. This laboratory is experimenting on the use of atomic energy in generating elec- tricity, and the possibilities of atomic - powered marine engines. Since uranium is relatively the only abundant element that can main- tain a chain reaction, its use as a source of heat, light, and production power in out -of -the -way places where coal, oil, or waterpower are negligi- ble or where the power has to be con- ducted over along route is inevitable. It would be a simple matter to set up a generating plant anywhere, the atomic fuel is light and the transporta- tion problem is easily solved. As a result, atomic energy for production looks very attractive to Europe and countries where resources are few and limited. When atomic energy has applied its finishing touches to a peaceful world, the people will realize that their homeland has been completely revamped. The production centers like Pittsburgh and Birmingham will be decentralized, The inhabitants of the udecentralized' cities will move into the open plains instead of crowding together in the cities as they formerly have done. Because of the increased production power of atomic energy, the standard of living will become very high. The world will become smaller because of the ex- pansion of the cities. Unemployment might be thought to increase since atomic energy might displace man- power, but experts report that there will be sufficient work for everyone, the amount of each individual's work, however, will be less. Then too, the slack in employment which the atomic - powered factories will cause, will be taken up by the new and revolutionary industries born of nuclear fission. Although the maximum of this in- dustrial use of atomic energy is ex- pectation, research will soon prove it tobe the greatest thing the nation has experienced. Running parallel to the utilization Ofnuclear fission in power production 5