A previous report described the conceptual design of a plutonium producing reactor that may be characterized as follows: Power output (2000 MW); cooling - (natural convection of light water through the reactor, up through a draft tube to an evaporative cooling pond, then back to the reactor, and fuel (400 to 500 tons of uranium enriched to 1.2% U-235). Because this reactor would be cooled by the natural convection of light water, it is believed that the construction costs would be significantly less than for a Savannah or Hanford type reactor. Such expensive items as water treatment and water pumping …
continued below
Publisher Info:
Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Wilmington, DE (United States). Explosives Dept.
Place of Publication:
Wilmington, Delaware
Provided By
UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Serving as both a federal and a state depository library, the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department maintains millions of items in a variety of formats. The department is a member of the FDLP Content Partnerships Program and an Affiliated Archive of the National Archives.
Descriptive information to help identify this report.
Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.
Description
A previous report described the conceptual design of a plutonium producing reactor that may be characterized as follows: Power output (2000 MW); cooling - (natural convection of light water through the reactor, up through a draft tube to an evaporative cooling pond, then back to the reactor, and fuel (400 to 500 tons of uranium enriched to 1.2% U-235). Because this reactor would be cooled by the natural convection of light water, it is believed that the construction costs would be significantly less than for a Savannah or Hanford type reactor. Such expensive items as water treatment and water pumping facilities would be eliminated entirely. The inventory of 500 tons of slightly enriched uranium, however, is an unattractive feature. It represents not only a large dollar investment but also makes the reactor less attractive for construction during periods of national emergency because of the almost certain scarcity of even slightly enriched uranium at that time. The Atomic Energy Commission asked that the design be reviewed with the objective of reducing the inventory of uranium, The results of this review are given in this report.
This report is part of the following collection of related materials.
Office of Scientific & Technical Information Technical Reports
Reports, articles and other documents harvested from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) is the Department of Energy (DOE) office that collects, preserves, and disseminates DOE-sponsored research and development (R&D) results that are the outcomes of R&D projects or other funded activities at DOE labs and facilities nationwide and grantees at universities and other institutions.
Babcock, D. F.; Bernath, L.; Menegus, R. L. & Ring, H. F.Natural convection reactor,
report,
May 1, 1956;
Wilmington, Delaware.
(https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc793647/:
accessed November 17, 2025),
University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu;
crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
