Atoms in the Marketplace (1968, sound)

for these plain looking metal shavings are worth approximately $11 a gram net 30 G [Music] precisely $300 in a vial not much bigger than a matchbox a composite sample for analysis it represents a batch of 40 metal buttons each button weighs about 5,000 G each batch with a total weight of less than 500 lb $2 million this is a precious metal but $2 million will buy almost 2 tons of gold this on the other hand is uranium isotopic content 93.1 15% uranium 235 highly enriched much more costly than gold it is sampled handled used and accounted for with extreme accuracy gram by G or atom by atom using a mass spectrometer that measures weight per of uranium 235 to within only one part in 10,000 think about it a measurement inaccuracy of only 5,000 in a $2 million batch becomes a discrepancy of $10,000 today uranium plutonium and other nuclear materials are an intrical part of science Industry and commerce costly atoms for many peaceful uses but they are more they are strategic materials unauthorized aversion of even minor quantities could cast a long and perilous Shadow across all nations of the earth as this young Dynamic rewarding industry grows it will eventually assume ownership of all commercial nuclear materials it cannot risk small cumulative undetected losses along the way the world today is a market huge quantities and many forms of nuclear materials are produced produced expenditures are enormous for example in a after the Cascade enriched uranium hexafluoride may be put through still further processing dry chemistry produces uranium tetrafluoride Green Salt and further still Green Salt converted to oxides or uranium metal [Music] a typical Metal Ingot or button weight 5 kg 11 lb value $55,000 the uranium buttons will be alloyed cast rolled and machined T are expensive and strategic Commodities we Safeguard this material in all of its forms each year many tons of uranium hexafluoride flow through three gaseous diffusion plants in the United States alone more than 50 separate plants process and fabricate fuel elements fuel elements that will be put to work in more than 200 nuclear reactors for Power Research testing and training other fuels go into aec reactors that produce another visionable material plutonium even more costly than enriched uranium commercial nuclear power plants throughout the nation produce plutonium as a byproduct as they provide electricity for utilities plutonium is a toxic element and is handled with care throughout the process it is important to both National Defense and peaceful programs on the subject of plutonium Dr Glenn torg chairman of the atomic energy commission at a meeting of the British nuclear energy Society in London in 1966 the cumulative quantities of plutonium that would be produced by the Year 1980 and the year 2000 are astonishing amounts indeed this plutonium will be produced throughout the world by 1980 and if our projections are correct at the rate of more than 100 kg a day in other words material will be produced over the face of the globe sufficient for the potential production of a substantial amount of the world's electrical power or alternatively sufficient for tens of nuclear weapons a day in the light of this but here and now we know that to continue to develop nuclear power serves the best interest of All Peoples of the world we know too that we must manage our nuclear materials so that none as they consume spent reactor fuel is processed to recover unused uranium and plutonium produced in fuel Elements by transmutation an intricate process with many steps that tend to complicate safeguards throughout the world we find Laboratories and facilities for research and development in nuclear [Music] technology and there are the mines the mines that feed the Mills and there are the refineries add them up within the borders of the United States alone there are more than and quantities will increase Senator John opor chairman of the joint Congressional committee on atomic energy since 1954 when we amended the basic law on atomic energy The Joint Committee of the Congress on atomic energy has been very intensely interested in the development of the peaceful atom by year 2000 the population of this country will double by that time 1 half of the electrical energy in this country of ours will be produced by nuclear energy therefore it behooves us to be very alert to make sure that this strategic material that's used in these reactors for the production of this power is accounted for in order not only to ensure the security of our nation but to make sure that all people who deal with it will be guaranteed their safety health and safety be corrected repairs made material reclaimed labels identified but they are accounting devices as well low enriched material highly enriched high cost material and there are thousands of containers or properly labeled to prevent accidental mixtures and degradation of materials instruments and Equipment are subjected to regular maintenance and periodic calibration so that recorded weights reflect accurately the contents of containers errors in Cal ation or imprecise measurement errors and Analysis inadequate equipment or techniques any of these may become large monetary losses economics is only one of a number of reasons for vigilance and accountability there are others small but cumulative losses all are economic problems but beyond economy there is a threat if small quantities are lost if they accumulate gram by gr if they are diverted through unauthorized [Music] channels most Nations agree in other parts of the world wherever nuclear materials are handled and used the world Community must be certain that nonproliferation is a primary concern the United from the beginning our security new unusual atoms mined in the Earth with a broad potential for peaceful use a new challenge and a newly created field for research and Technology government and Industry demands for greater quantities generated new supplies of nuclear materials a new and different industry had begun and its raw materials have since become abundant Commodities in the marketplace in 1954 the atomic energy Act was broadened it now permitted private Enterprise to participate in the development of peaceful uses of atomic energy but materials were to remain in government ownership materials management is an ordinary part of business but surrounded by unordinary circumstances process complexity unprecedented Precision techniques unique hazards in these unordinary circumstances great G than ordinary effort is needed ultimately our goals are Prosperity Safety and safeguards Security for the nation and its people nuclear materials management is important to these goals and to the Future and as the nuclear Marketplace expands Science and Technology will extend the horizons of progress beyond the promise of present knowledge life in the young and growing nuclear age will become richer and more meaningful in all parts of the [Music] world