Supplying the Nuclear Arsenal: American Production Reactors, 1942-1992

Abstract

This work looks at the origin and development of the government-owned reactors that produce weapons-grade plutonium and tritium. The authors describe a 50-year US government effort no less complex, expensive, and technologically demanding than the Polaris or Apollo programmes. The evolution of the early reactors is described, as is the weapons establishment that surrounded them, and the sometimes bitter struggles between business and political constituencies for their share of the nuclear pork. The text shows how, since the 1980s, ageing production reactors have increased the risk of radioactive contamination of the atmosphere and water table, and describes how the US Department of Energy mounted a massive effort to find the right design for a new generation of reactors.