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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 1955)
o o o O 3" o 0 3 0 G G G O - o o c6 o 1 4 so- Q 0 Q British Physicist Explains Runaway Threat Of Atomic Furnace During Peacetime Use Friday, August 12. 1953 Editor'! note: A dread new word ku entered the language of the atomic are "runaway." It means an atomic power plant luddenly raging out of control, possibly blasting Itseit to oeaa ly dost and hurling radioactive clouds Into the air around it. Scientists faced np to this Industrial peril of the future at the United Nations atoms-for-peace conference Wednesday. In the follow ing dispatch a British physicist whose Job Is applying atomic power for peace explains the threat. By DR. J. M. A. LENIHAN Written for United Press Geneva (U.R) What is a "run away" arm what makes it run? The answer is terrifyingly sim ple. A runaway is an atomic fur nace of peacetime trying to aci like its parent of wartime, the A-bomb. The perils of the runaway are, In some ways, at least, the perils of the bomb. Teams of scientists from the United States, Britain and Russia reported on the possibility of runaways at the atoms-for-peace conference Wednesday. Here are the conclusions of the theoretical and experimental data they pre sented: To understand how a pile can blow up you must remember that a reactor is just an atomic bomb in slow motion. This is not a natural state be cause the fission reaction that keeps a furnace going is nervous by nature. The activity of a pile must always be rising or falling. If it falls too low the pile shuts down. If it rises too high the pile blows up. Th Possibility The explosive reaction is re strained in the normal way by control rods and other safety de vices but these, like any other machine, can go wrong and it is therefore possible for a pile to go out of control. Dr. Edward Teller, who con tributed much to America's H bomb development, put the need 150 Sunset Stations Sold to Weslway Firm Portland U.R) Westway Pe troleum Corporation has pur chased from the Sunset Oil Com ' pany about 150 gasoline stations in the Pacific Northwest in a transaction said to involve about $1,500,000, it was reported today. Purchase was financed by Union Oil Company for West- way, which is a subsidiary estab lished under California law to operate the Northwest group. In cluded in the transaction were the Golden Eagle and United Petroleum names in Oregon and Eagle brand name in Washing ton. It does not affect the sta tions operated by Sunset Oil in California. for guarding against this "going wrong" in these words: "With all the inherent safe guards that can be put into a reactor, there is still no fool proof system. Any system can be defeated by a great enough fool. The real danger occurs when a false sense of security causes a relaxation of caution." It can be predicted theoretical ly up to a point but practical ELECTED AS president of Girls' Nation, sponsored by Amer ican Legion Auxiliary, Brenda Ann Russ, Trenton, Term.,, waves to girls at Washington convention. With her is Ade laide Titus, Ocean City, N. J., vice president (International) Kennecott Copper Reaches Agreement Salt Lake City (U.R) An agreement to end a 42-day strike that cut off production by Utah mines and mills that normally furnish one-third of America's domestic supply of vital copper was reached early today by Ken necott Copper Corp. and eight unions. Company spokesmen said min ing and milling operations would resume as soon as local unions ratify the agreement. They re ported the strike resulted in the loss of 130,000,000 pounds of cop per that would have been mined since the strike began July 1. This loss, coupled with other recently-settled labor disputes in western mines of two other American companies and strikes in copper mines in South Africa, has contributed to a world-wide shortage of the red metal, raised copper prices and forced some processors to substitute other metals and plastics. Dead line Sunday Classified is at noon Saturday: 10 a.m Monday for Monday: other days 5:30 ureviousday Ex-Cuba President Returns From Exile Havana, Cuba (U.R) Former President Carlos Prio Socarras said on his return from self-imposed exile Thursday night that he is willing to meet with Presi dent Fulgencio Batista in an at tempt to bring peace to Cuba. Prio said he is not interested in politics personally but only in finding a solution to Cuba's political problems. The former president arrived from Miami, Fla., Thursday after more than three years in exile. He was deposed March 10, 1952, by an army coup d'etat headed by Batista, who later was pro claimed president. I experience is the best guide and ' ' the only way to gain this ex perience is to let a reactor ex plode. This test was made by the Ar rogonne National Laboratory. ; A small experimental reactor built in a remote location was deliberately sacrificed by eject-; ing a control rod, the job of j which is to "cool" off the re actor by absorbing the excess radioactivity. The Experiment ; In less than one-fifth of a sec ond the uranium fuel melted, the surrounding water vaporized and the whole structure blew up, scattering fragments and radio active debris over a 350-foot cir cle. From this experiment and oth er calculations another American group including . Teller submit ted a study suggesting what might happen if a big reactor blew its top. First there would be a loud explosion, destroying the reactor and killing or maiming the staff of the plant. Then a cloud of radioactive dirt would rise into the air and, according , to the state of the wind, would drift over the surrounding landscape. Communities in its track might have to be evacuated and water supplies might become unusable for days or weeks, until the radioactivity radiated itself away to a safe level. . "Perhaps it is important. . . " the Teller team reported, "to emphasize the degree of public hazard that might follow a re actor accident: "Assuming that good luck pre vails and no one is killed, it may nevertheless be necessary to evacuate a large city, to aban don a major watershed, and very probably it would be necessary to make the reactor site itself a forbidden area for some years to come." BAD TO WORSE Passaic, N. J. (U.R) Frank Cimino reported Thursday to Magistrate H. Dick Cohen that he had gotten rid of his 1941 model automobile as his honor had ordered because it was a "menace" on the road. Then Cimino told Cohen he had bought a 1940 model to replace it. Carpenters Needed At Klamath Air Base Klamath Falls (U.R) An urgent appeal for carpenters has been issued by C. D. Long, busi ness agent for the local carpen ters union. Long said about 100 carpenters were needed for work on the Klamath Falls Air Force base. He said most of the city's 180 carpenters were employed by resident contractors, and only 20 had found jobs at the jet base. The remaining 80 jobs at the base, he said, would have to be filled by carpenters from outside the Klamath Falls area. MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE FIVE 'Of course Key c&n stay foi lunch f ftfei o o 0 "0D FREEZER It's so easy to whip up planned meals even for unexpected guests with a food freezer in your home. It's easy because you plan and prepare those meals far in advance. Choice meat, vegetables at peak-of-season goodness, fruits with fresh-picked flavor have them ready for emergencies, spe cial occasions and year 'round good eating. And you'll enjoy the convenience of a freezer. 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