Peacetime Fission

Atomic energy for peaceful purposes looked closer, but not very close. In a conspicuously close-mouthed report to Bernard M. Baruch, U.S. representative on the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, a group of scientists announced last week that atomic power for industrial use would cost only 23% more than power from coal at the current U.S. East Coast price of $7 a ton to power companies. A 75,000-kilowatt pile of the Hanford type, adapted for power production and using natural uranium, could be built for $25,000,000.

If the price of coal were to rise above $10 a ton, atomic power would be economically profitable. It might be profitable right now in the many parts of the world where coal is expensive and hydroelectric power nonexistent.

The report made clear that atomic power was still infested with "bugs," the worst of which were the deadly rays given off by piles and their byproducts. It hinted that smaller, handier piles might eventually be designed. What it did not state was that many physicists consider Hanford-type piles already obsolete except for plutonium production.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.