gram should not be undertaken on a crash basis which fails to give reasonable attention to assurance of success or tries to bypass the orderly study of all relevant problems. (c) Consideration should be given soon to the training of scientific specialists for spacecraft flights so that they can conduct or accompany manned expeditions to the moon and planets. The Board strongly urges official adoption and public announcement of the foregoing policy and concepts by the U.S. Government. Furthermore, while the Board has here stressed the importance of this policy as a scientific goal, it is not unaware of the great importance of other factors associated with a U.S. man in space program. One of these factors is, of course, the sense of national leadership emergent from bold and imaginative U.S. space activity. Second, the members of the Board as individuals regard man's exploration of the moon and planets as potentially the greatest inspirational venture of this century and one in which the entire world can share; inherent here are great and fundamental philosophical and spiritual values which find a response in man's questing spirit and his intellectual self-realization. Elaboration of these factors is not the purpose of this document. Nevertheless, the members of the Board fully recognize their parallel importance with the scientific goals and believe that they should not be neglected in seeking public appreciation and acceptance of the program. (The membership of the Space Science Board and its committees, which includes leading scientists in various fields from all parts of the country, is attached :) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SPACE SCIENCE BOARD Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner, Chairman Dr. Harrison S. Brown Dr. Leo Goldberg Dr. H. Keffer Hartline Dr. Donald F. Hornig Dr. William W. Kellogg Dr. Christian J. Lambertsen Dr. Joshua Lederberg Alan H. Shapley Dr. O. G. Villard, Jr. Dr. Harry Wexler Dr. George P. Woollard Dr. Hugh Odishaw (Executive Director) R. C. Peavey (secretary) Committee on the Chemistry of Space and Exploration of Moon and Planets: Dr. Harold C. Urey (Chairman), Dr. Harrison S. Brown (Vice Chairman), Prof. Harry H. Hess, Dr. A. R. Hibbs, Prof. Mark Inghram, Prof. Zdenek Kopal, Dr. Gordon J. F. MacDonald, Prof. Frank Press, Dr. William M. Sinton, Dr. G. de Vaucouleurs, Dr. Fred L. Whipple, Mr. G. A. Derbyshire (secretary). Committee on Optical and Radio Astronomy: Dr. Leo Goldberg (Chairman), Prof. Lawrence H. Aller, Dr. Horace W. Babcock, Dr. Gerald M. Clemence, Dr. A. D. Code, Dr. John W. Evans, Jr., Dr. John Findlay, Dr. Herbert Friedman, Mr. Roger Gallet, Dr. G. H. Herbig, Dr. Frederick T. Haddock, Jr., Dr. Walter Orr Roberts, Prof. Lyman Spitzer, Jr., Prof. Martin Schwarzschild, Dr. Edward R. Dyer (secretary). Committee on International Relations: Dr. Richard W. Porter (Chairman), Dr. Herbert Friedman, Dr. Leo Goldberg, Dr. Hugh Odishaw, Dr. Homer E. Newell, Jr., Dr. Howard P. Robertson, Mr. Alan H. Shapley, Dr. Harry Wexler, Mr. Joel Orlen (secretary). Committee on Space Projects: Dr. Bruno B. Rossi (Chairman), Dr. Thomas Gold, Prof. Salvador E. Luria, Dr. Philip Morrison, Mr. J. P. T. Pearman (secretary). Committee on the Atmospheres of the Earth and Planets: Mr. Alan H. Shapley (Chairman), Dr. Henry G. Booker, Dr. Joseph W. Chamberlain, Dr. Robert Jastrow, Dr. C. Gordon Little, Prof. Laurence A. Manning, Prof. Arthur H. Waynick, Mr. R. C. Peavey (secretary). Committee on Physics of Fields and Particles in Space: Dr. John A. Simpson (Chairman). Dr. James A. Van Allen (Vice Chairman), Dr. Joseph Chamberlain, Dr. William Kraushaar, Dr. Eugene N. Parker, Dr. E. H. Vestine, Dr. John Winckler, Mr. J. P. T. Pearman (secretary). Committee on Meteorological Aspects of Satellites: Dr. Harry Wexler (Chairman), Dr. Charles C. Bates, Dr. George Benton, Dr. Sigmund Fritz, Dr. William W. Kellogg, Dr. Norman Phillips, Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, Dr. Verner E. Suomi, Dr. William K. Widger, Jr., Dr. Edward R. Dyer (secretary). Committee on Geodesy: Dr. G. P. Woollard (Chairman), Dr. R. K. C. Johns, Dr. D. A. Lautman, Dr. William Markowitz, Mr. W. J. O'Sullivan, Mr. Donald A. Rice, Dr. Hellmut Schmid, Mr. Charles A. Whitten, Dr. Edward R. Dyer (secretary). Committee on Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research: Dr. W. W. Kellogg (Chairman), Dr. H. J. aufm Kampe, Mr. Warren W. Berning, Lt. Comdr. W. W. Elam, Dr. Robert D. Fletcher, Dr. Herbert Friedman, Mr. Stanley M. Greenfield, Mr. John E. Masterson, Mr. Willis Webb, Dr. Harry Wexler, Mr. G. A. Derbyshire (secretary). Committee on Exobiology: Dr. Joshua Lederberg (Chairman), Dr. Paul Berg, Dr. Melvin Calvin, Dr. Richard Davies, Dr. Norman Horowitz, Dr. A. G. Marr, Dr. Daniel Mazia, Dr. Aaron Novick, Dr. Carl Sagan, Dr. C. B. van Niel, Dr. Harold Weaver, Mr. G. A. Derbyshire (secretary). Committee on Environmental Biology: Dr. Colin S. Pittendrigh (Chairman), Dr. Allan H. Brown, Dr. Theodore H. Bullock, Mr. G. A. Derbyshire (secretary). Committee on Man in Space: Dr. Christian J. Lambertsen (Chairman), Dr. Howard J. Curtis, Dr. James D. Hardy, Dr. H. Keffer Hartline, Dr. James Henry, Dr. Joshua Lederberg, Dr. Norton Nelson, Dr. Colin S. Pittendrigh, Dr. R. W. Porter, Mr. John W. Senders, Mr. G. A. Derbyshire (secretary). APPENDIX 10 PROJECT Pluto SummARY Project Pluto is a joint Atomic Energy Commission-Air Force program to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear ramjet propulsion. Early Air Force studies of various nuclear propulsion systems had indicated a potential application for a nuclear ramjet in high-speed strategic missiles. In late 1955 the DOD requested that the AEC actively participate in a program leading toward the development of an advanced-type reactor suitable for ramjet propulsion. As a result, Project Pluto was initiated in early 1956. Studies conducted by the Air Force during 1956 and 1957 indicated that a supersonic low altitude system appeared promising, and in 1958 the Pluto program was reoriented toward the low altitude application. Preliminary performance studies indicated that a reactor suitable for such an application must operate under difficult conditions, including high fuel element temperatures, high-power densities, high flight loads, high mass flow rates of air coolant which contains water vapor, etc. The reactor physics considerations showed that this reactor should be homogeneous and that beryllium oxide offered the best moderator choice. The first phase of the program concerned itself with material development. In order to better appreciate the magnitude of this problem, it is necessary to underscore the state of knowledge about candidate reactor materials available at that time. In regard to the moderator material, BeO, literature was either incorrect or nonexistent. Thus, the first 2 years of the program were concentrated on materials research and development. Analytical and theoretical studies have indicated that nuclear ramjet propulsion is technically feasible. However, in order to really demonstrate the success of the concept, it was considered necessary to actually fabricate, and operate in ground tests, a reactor which performs as required. To achieve this end, a series of three reactors, known as the Tory series, have been planned. This series of test reactors will lead to a reactor capable of use as a nuclear ramjet powerplant. The first of these, Tory IIA-1, is a small, low-power, engineering test reactor. Its main purpose is to verify the predicted integrity of the reactor core materials and to allow the study of the aerothermodynamic behavior of the core-air heat exchange system under conditions simulating low altitude supersonic flight. To allow the use of control rods which will operate at temperatures substantially lower than core temperatures, the reactor control system has been placed in a thick graphite reflector. Tory IIA-2 was intended as a backup for Tory IIA-1 and is substantially the same as IIA-1. After the operation of IIA-1 at power a decision will be made on the necessity for retaining this reactor in the test program. The next major step in the demonstration of feasibility consists of running a full-size reactor at the power, temperature, and airflow rate equivalent to ramjet operating conditions. Such a reactor has been designated Tory IIC. In this core, problems will be investigated which were purposely bypassed in the Tory IIA. The Tory IIA-1 reactor was assembled at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and went critical there on October 7, 1960. Subsequently it was moved to the Nevada Test Site for testing at power. On May 14, 1961 the reactor was successfully operated at 50 megawatts, one-third of the design power. This test was highly successful and exceeded planned goals. The reactor will be operated at higher power levels later this year. Gen. A. R. LUEDECKE, APPENDIX 11 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, General Manager, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Dear GENERAL LUEDECKE: Since we did not have an opportunity to cover all of the SNAP development programs during our recent hearings, we would like to have a brief report on the items we did not cover in order to make the record of the hearings complete. The particular programs which come to mind are the isotope power supply development programs for the operation of a seismic station in the ocean, the weather station program, and plans for development of water desalinization units using isotope power supplies. Sincerely yours, James T. RaMEY, Executive Director. U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, Mr. JAMES T. RAMEY, Executive Director, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, DEAR MR. RAMEY: As requested in your letter of September 8, I am attaching a statement of program work and plans of the Atomic Energy Commission for the development of isotopic power systems, as well as the use of fission products as an energy source in areas such as saline water conversion. Also attached are copies of the letters between Chairman Seaborg and Kenneth Holum, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, establishing a cooperative project to develop a "test" saline water conversion unit using a fission product energy source. Sincerely yours, A. R. LUEDECKE, TESTIMONY FOR JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY For the past 15 years the United States has been storing in the ground, a basically important national resource, the fission product wastes produced in the operation of nuclear reactors. It is the goal of the AEC to develop economic applications of this energy source. One of the most promising areas is the development of long-lived and reliable isotopic power generators for a broad spectrum of terrestrial and oceanographic uses. These include automatic weather stations, navigational devices, light buoys, deep ocean instruments and many military requirements. To achieve this goal will require the development, not only of safe and efficient generators, but of diversified fission product sources in order to most economically make use of the large volumes of waste available. Significant progress has already been made on the development of both terrestrial and oceanographic generators which use two of the principal fission products, strontium 90 and cesium 137. Future plans call for the development of isotopic power systems utilizing the other principal fission products, cerium 144 and promethium 147. AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATION The world's first radioisotope-powered automatic weather station was placed in service during August 1961 on Axel Heiberg Island, a remote and barren location in the Canadian Arctic. Power to operate the station and its transmitters is provided by a thermoelectric generator that directly converts the heat produced in the radioactive decay of strontium 90 to electricity. Approximately 1 pound of a strontium 90 compound is used in the generator to produce 5 watts of power. The power source and the electronic components of the station are housed in an insulated steel cylinder, 8 feet long, which is buried in the permanently frozen ground. Waste heat from the thermoelectric generator is used to maintain an interior operating temperature of about 70° F. in even the coldest arctic climate, thus enhancing the operating reliability of the electronic components. Although the entire automatic weather station has been designed to provide a minimum of 2 years of unattended operation, the strontium 90 the thermoelectric generator should provide usable power for up to 10 years. Safety is the foremost consideration in the use of radioisotopes as electric power sources. To insure that the strontium 90 used in this prototype weather station could not escape in such a manner as to enter the biosphere, an extensive development program on insoluable, refractory strontium-containing compounds was undertaken. The ceramic material selected, strontium titanate, remains stable even beyond its melting point of 3,000° F. Its rate of solubility in fresh water is so low that it has not been measured and even in sea water its solubility is measured in parts per billion. Moreover, the radioactive material is encased in several layers of Hastelloy C, which would withstand sea water corrosion for over 2,000 years. Future networks of isotope powered automatic weather stations can exert a revolutionary effect on the science of meteorology. When coupled with Tiros weather satellites, we will have, for the first time, a worldwide weather observational and forecasting system. UNDERSEA SEISMOGRAPH STATION The need for more accurate information on earthquakes, leading to the possibility of predicting destructive shock, is well recognized. A network of conventional and standardized earthquake recording stations, located on six continents, is now being established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Data from these will be handled by an analysis center in Washington, D.C. This network will provide heretofore unavailable correlation of data on the location and frequency of earthquakes. We are still limited, however, by the fact that three-fourths of the world's surface is under ocean water. Networks of automatically transmitting seismograph stations that could be located on the ocean floor would add much to our knowledge. The Division of Isotopes Development initiated a program in collaboration with the Lamont Geological Laboratory to develop such an isotope-powered seismograph station. The power unit is a thermoelectric generator that converts the heat produced in the radioactive decay of cesium 137 to usable electricity. In this application water acts as a natural shield and its low temperature gives the thermoelectric conversion system a very efficient heat sinkmaintaining a constantly low temperature on the cold junctions of the conversion system. A new insoluble and unreactive compound of cesium 137 called cesium polyglass has been developed as the heat source for the thermoelectric generator. Special hot cell operations for the preparation of the heat source have also been devised to reduce costs of fabrication on this and subsequent units. Pellets of cesium polyglass are fabricated by casting rather than by the more complex technique of converting to a powder and then pressing and sintering. In the seismograph station generator, six pellets totaling 28,000 curies of cesium_137 will be doubly encapsulated in Hastelloy C and placed in a tungsten shield. Two layers of insulation trap both conductive heat and radiant heat. Lead telluride thermocouples convert the heat to 5 watts of electrical power with an efficiency of better than 6 percent. The entire configuration is contained in a 2-inch thick aluminum alloy shell coated with a corrosion resistant material. The complete generator is cylindrical, 30 inches high by 13 inches in diameter, and weighs slightly more than 400 pounds. While the seismograph station will be operated at ocean depths of 15,000 to 18,000 feet, the generator has been designed to operate at depths of as much as 36,000 feet. FUTURE PLANS A detailed study analysis has recently been undertaken by the Division of Isotopes Development to identify means whereby current and projected Atomic Energy Commission programs related to fuel reprocessing, fission product recovery and waste management can be optimized for fission product utilization. Called Project SHARE (Systems for Heat and Radiation Energy), its objective is to orient Commission research and development programs toward processes which would yield fission products at lowest cost and in a more appropriate chemical and physical form for ultimate beneficial use. A project to develop a thermoelectric generator for powering an oceanographic instrument package which utilizes an insoluble and unreactive form of cerium 144 will soon be initiated. Development of applications for cerium 144 is particularly important to the entire waste utilization program because this radioisotope represents a considerable percentage of the total fission product energy content. If large-scale requirements for cerium 144 at a price of only a few cents a curie can be developed, present prices of strontium 90 and cesium 137 would be greatly reduced. Cerium 144 has a rather short half life (285 days) which, under ordinary circumstances, would make it unattractive as an energy source. However, by developing a thermoelectric generator, which incorporates provisions for refueling, the life expectancy of a cerium 144 fueled isotopic power source would be greatly enhanced. To date, primary attention in energy conversion systems research has been devoted to thermoelectric and thermionic methods. The AEC intends to investigate other methods for directly converting fission product energy to usable electric power, such as the possible application of fission products to chemical fuel cells. Many potential applications, other than auxiliary electric power, exist for fission products. For example, the Division of Isotopes Development is cooperating with the Office of Saline Water, Department of the Interior, in a study to determine the technical and economic feasibility of utilizing waste fission products as an energy source for saline water conversion processes. Initial efforts, on the part of the Office of Saline Water contractor, Chance Vought Corp., have been devoted to the design of a small conversion unit utilizing a fission product energy source in a conventional flash evaporator system. An economic investigation has indicated that such units are worthy of experimental study. A small conversion unit using cerium-144 as the energy source will soon be fabricated. This unit is capable of producing about 250 gallons per day of fresh water, and present plans call for its operation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as a cooperative project with the Department of the Interior. The widescale use of fission product wastes could bring about important benefits to our nuclear economy. An analogy can be drawn to the petroleum industry. For many years, the natural gas tapped as a byproduct of petroleum production was burned off as a bothersome waste. Today, natural gas is a valuable commodity in its own right. As one of its most important functions, the Atomic Energy Commission is working toward the same accomplishment for the nuclear industry—the conversion of a fission product liability into an economic and beneficial energy source. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., August 14, 1961. Hon. GLENN T. SEABORG, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, DEAR DR. SEABORG: The Department of Interior, through its Office of Saline Water, has contracted with Chance Vought Corp., Dallas, Tex., to determine the economic and technical feasibility of utilizing calcined waste fission products as an energy source for saline water conversion processes. This work was |