Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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is its future in engineering and trans- portation. Radio-active materials, or isotopes, which are elements of a sub- stance which have absorbed neutrons from reacting uranium, have been used in many phases of engineering. Radio-active materials are being used to estimate the amount of petro- leum present in a drilled well. The radio-active substance is drilled into the ground, then with the aid of an in- strument called a Geiger counter, the amount, the location, and the move- ments of underground liquids can be discovered. Radio-active isotopes have been introduced into metal parts in order to study and measure the amount of wear in ball -bearings, pistons, and sliding parts, with the conclusion, that better alloys which will resist certain types of wear can be produced. Radio-active materials have been used for safety methods in plants and factories. Radio-active substances are blown into the air and are used to study the harmful effects which the dusts of the factory have on the work- ers. By this method experimenters can determine the types of industrial wastes which are harmful to the body, and also those which cause tubercu- losis. An irradiated antimony rod has been used as a cheap X-ray to detect flaws in metals and metal parts. Al- though the radio-active rod is able to retain its radio-activity for only a short time, it is cheap and easily re- placed. As for the utilization of nuclear fission in transportation, its future looks dark and mmyielding. Atomic- powered vehicles cannot be expected 6 for a long time, because of the problem involved in surrounding an engine with a shield of lead or concrete. Automobile engines have to be com- pact, and an automobile with an atomic engine, would have to be of tremen- dous size to support the weight of such ashield. The same goes for the rail- way engine. The entire railway net- work of the country would have to change completely in order to support the weight and bulk of an atomic -pow- ered train. In preparation for atomic -jet pro- pulsion, the Army Air Force, the Na- tional Aeronautics Commission, and ten aviation companies have combined and have worked the mathematics for an atomic-powered airplane engine, but as yet, no drafting has been started on a motor design. In regard to atomic -powered en- gines, scientists are confronted at every t1u'n with the problem of size and weight because of the now-present necessity of a protective shield, but the scientists have one aspect in their favor--the fact that sea-water is an excellent shield for deadly gamma rays. Engineers hope that they will be able to design a ship, powered by nuclear fission, which will trail the engine under the surface. The power would turn an ordinary steam turbine which would provide power for the propeller, and the whole problem of the deadly rays would be eliminated by the presence of the surrounding sea water. Transportation from nu- clear fission, therefore, has its possi- bilities, but as yet not too many prob- abilities. Although the use of atomic energy in power production, in engineering,

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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

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and in transportation, has been dis- played in the light of peace, atomic energy is being used to Wage a war in the field of medicine. According to Dr. Arthur H. Compton, it is possible to produce some 450 radio-active ele- ments from nuclear fission. Ulti- mately, these 450 isotopes will be used invarious fields of commercial chem- istry and medical research. By replacing the normal atoms of a substance with radio-active atoms of the same element, the action of chemicals in the body can be traced. Radio-active isotopes are used in ex- periments to trace substances in the human body, and to observe the ac- tions of vitamins, proteins, and other products in the body. From these radio-active tracer atoms' injected into the body, new facts about heart disease and cancer can be learned. Although no cure for cancer has been discovered through the use of radio- active substances, problems on how cancer develops can be studied and perhaps eventually solved. Radio-ac- tive phosphorous has been used in studying leukemia, a disease which produces an excess of white corpus- cles. Radio-active iodine has been very useful in the treatment of goitre and thyroid tumors. With the aid of radio-active iodine, researchers have discovered that three fourths of the iodine in the body goes to the thyroid gland, thus they know that the iodine is instrumental in the treatment of the disease. Radio-active carbon is perhaps the most useful of the radio- active elements because of its pro- longed radio-activity. Isotopes of carbon have been used to study can- cer, diabetes, and to trace carbon de- position in teeth and bones. The gam- ma rays also make excellent X-rays, but because of the intense heat, they cannot be used on human beings. At this time, the tremendous problem that remains is determining the quan- tity and kind of materials which when deposited in certain tissues provide a safe dosage of radioactivity. Until this problem is solved, there is no curative use of radio isotopes. Not only are there experiments being conducted by hospitals and re- search centers but by private individu- als who can obtain radio-active iso- topes by buying them from a catalogue put out by the Oak Ridge, Tennessee laboratory if they are legitimate re- search scientists. This system in- creases the number of experiments not only in medical fields but in other fields as Well. Although radio isotopes cannot cure diseases they can be used for agricultural purposes, and perhaps they can clear up a few biological questions which have been unanswered for years. Radio-active isotopes of an ele- ment canbe used to learn more about animal and plant life. So far, there is no evidence that atomic energy or radio-active substances will increase the rate or amount of plant growth, but biologists are using radio-active isotopes to study plant metabolism a.nd photo-synthesis. Using carbon tracer atoms, they can study the cre- ation of plant food and the storing of solar energy in the plant which could mean that with sufficient knowledge, the artificial creation of food and the harnessing of the sun's energy might be accomplished. Employing different 7