Getting
Out There:
RoadTrip News & Views
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Atomic
RoadTrip!
Touring the World's First Nuclear Power Plant
by Mark Sedenquist
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Experimental Breeder-Reactor #1 near Arco, Idaho |
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High school one-upsmanship on a hillside near
Arco |
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Nondescript facade disguises EBR-1's fascinating
interior |
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Just slightly to the north
of the old track of the Oregon Trail and to the west of Idaho
Falls lies Butte County, Idaho. Butte County is home to
a number of scenic spots including Craters
of the Moon National Monument, King Mountain (famous for
hang-gliding), and the impressive display of rock graffiti
just outside of Arco, where scores of high school students
have emblazoned the mountainside with the year of their graduating
class. Butte County is also home to Atomic City and the nuclear
test site known as Idaho National Laboratory (INL). These days, over 3,000 engineers
and scientists work daily at INL testing alloys that can
contain nuclear waste, developing new nuclear medicine techniques,
and conducting research under the auspices of the Argonne
National Laboratory and the US Navy.
Since the 1950s, this 890-square-mile preserve
has been off limits to the general public with the exception
of the short side road from US-26/US-20 (about fifteen miles
south of Arco) to Experimental Breeder Reactor #1 (EBR-1)
. EBR-1 was the first nuclear-powered electrical power plant
ever built, and today it is open free of charge to visitors
and offers both guided and self-guided tours. Even though
the building's bland cinderblock construction appears to be
uninspiring from a distance, this place is well worth a visit.
Unlike virtually every other nuclear facility in America,
the taking of photographs is not only allowed, but is even
encouraged by the knowledgeable curatorial staff.
A so-called "breeder reactor"
creates plutonium-239, which is then used as a nuclear fuel.
The basic operation of the breeder reactor at EBR-1 starts
with atoms of uranium-235. When struck by neutrons, the uranium-235
atoms split apart (fission). This process creates heat, waste,
and two to three new neutrons, which in turn strike more uranium-235
atoms, continuing the nuclear chain reaction and creating
increasing levels of heat, waste, etc. Only a portion of naturally-occurring
uranium is uranium-235, (the fissionable part) the greater
amount is uranium-238. Uranium-238 resists splitting but does
absorb neutrons. It is this absorbing process that creates
plutonium-239 which is a very good, albeit highly radioactive,
nuclear fuel. When the plant was operating, the heat created
in the reaction was converted to steam using a steam generator.
This in turn powered a turbine which created electricity,
much like a conventional coal-fired electrical power plant. [Continued
on Page 2]
Mark Sedenquist
August 21, 2005
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