I used to work about a hundred yards from this reactor at Ft. Belvoir back in the early eighties. By that time the reactor was pretty well mothballed as newer technology had rendered it obsolete. Interesting video regardless.
The buildings for this project still exist. One building, just up the hill from the SM-1 reactor building is used by the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA) as their HQ. From what I recall, the JPRA building was originally used by the reactor project team as a working office space. The JPRA building is interesting as it has built in shielding as a measure to protect the occupants in the event of a radiologic emergency with the reactor facility. In 2022, the SM-1 reactor building deconstruction began. You can find videos of the deconstruction on TH-cam. I do not know if the building is completely disassembled yet, but you could see the building from the Potomac if you had a boat to get there. Google Earth satellite imagery still has the building in-situ. If you do try to see the building via boat from the Potomac: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO ASHORE at that location!! This area of Fort Belvoir is a secure area not accessible to civilian or military personnel without authorization. You will be arrested and fined heavily if you attempt to do any landing from the water at this location.
The practical evolution of electric energy and distribution will likely involve small nuclear reactors placed close to the demand. They could be sized with excess capacity to be able to share thru the grid for redundancy to cover wider areas to minimize outages due to storms and other factors. This can minimize the need to send huge amounts of power long distances and minimize the area affected by outages.
“12 months from the first fell tree the structure was finished” Can we take a moment and imagine any government project today being done in 12 months….
The first reactor unknowingly leaked tritium into the Chesapeake for some time until a detector was built to pick up on the beta radiation. The instrumentation in the SM-1 pre-dated the development of solid-state devices and used vacuum tubes.
Are you talking about the nuclear reactor? This is about the nuclear reactor design that had a disaster that happened in Idaho in 1960. The reactor was a test of the design to provide power for the DEW line. Distant Early Warning system. Watching for Russian bombers flying over the North Pole. This was before spy satellites. DEW line was no longer needed after spy satellites were invented. This disaster was kept top secret until the 1990s. You can look up the disaster by searching for "Army nuclear reactor disaster Idaho."
@@whatisnuclear what I mean is why can’t this technology be used today? We know how to build them. R and D done decades ago. Small Modular Reactors ready and waiting to be built.
Because in 1961 there was a reactor accident with the successor SL-1. SL-1 is the only nuclear accident in the United States to date in which people were killed. At the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho at 9:01 p. m. , the prototype of a military boiling water reactor, the SL-1, which had been shut down over Christmas, quickly became supercritical for a few milliseconds, releasing about 6,000 times the power for which the facility was designed. Before the reactivity could be reduced by the formation of vapour bubbles (see vapour bubble coefficient), the fuel elements of the small reactor core made of highly enriched uranium (90%) already disintegrated. The 2 m high water column surrounding the core collided with the reactor lid at 9 m/s - the water level had been lowered slightly for maintenance work - and caused the entire 12-tonne boiler to rise almost 3 m up to the floor, thereby pushing the steering rod back in completely.
Absolutely. It will take us a long time to reach the level of skill they had to run the truck-mounted ML-1 came out of this program. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML-1
With all that concrete and steel, what could be the total weight of such a plant? Surely a few thousand tons. I don't really see this as transportable by air to remote bases.
This one was a prototype not actually intended to fly. They did use the info they learned here and made one that was actually air-lifted, assembled, and operated: th-cam.com/video/T9S1P54n1FA/w-d-xo.html
Agreed, but they were just working through enabling technologies. This led to one that was actually portable and actually air lifted, see: th-cam.com/video/T9S1P54n1FA/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for digitising this. I find these celluloid films so enjoyable to watch. They could do so much with so little technology back then.
The needlessly complex musical score is the hallmark of this genre.
Well said 🤙
Orchestras gotta eat!
It showed that we had pride in what we did, and even the mundane subject like portable atomic energy plants, could still benefit from artistic vision
Along with so many modern youtube video productions. The more things change the more they stay the same.
I used to work about a hundred yards from this reactor at Ft. Belvoir back in the early eighties.
By that time the reactor was pretty well mothballed as newer technology had rendered it obsolete. Interesting video regardless.
Great find. Thanks ... Subscribed ... Cheers ...
This reminds me the Century Camp video. Impressive.
The Camp Century reactor was directly descended from this one.
The buildings for this project still exist.
One building, just up the hill from the SM-1 reactor building is used by the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA) as their HQ.
From what I recall, the JPRA building was originally used by the reactor project team as a working office space.
The JPRA building is interesting as it has built in shielding as a measure to protect the occupants in the event of a radiologic emergency with the reactor facility.
In 2022, the SM-1 reactor building deconstruction began.
You can find videos of the deconstruction on TH-cam.
I do not know if the building is completely disassembled yet, but you could see the building from the Potomac if you had a boat to get there.
Google Earth satellite imagery still has the building in-situ.
If you do try to see the building via boat from the Potomac: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO ASHORE at that location!!
This area of Fort Belvoir is a secure area not accessible to civilian or military personnel without authorization.
You will be arrested and fined heavily if you attempt to do any landing from the water at this location.
Thanks for the info!
I watched the deconstruction video. The scope is very different, but modern video absolutely pales in light of these excellent vintage videos.
Great films.
The practical evolution of electric energy and distribution will likely involve small nuclear reactors placed close to the demand. They could be sized with excess capacity to be able to share thru the grid for redundancy to cover wider areas to minimize outages due to storms and other factors. This can minimize the need to send huge amounts of power long distances and minimize the area affected by outages.
Future just began!
Thanks 👍
“12 months from the first fell tree the structure was finished”
Can we take a moment and imagine any government project today being done in 12 months….
The government can get us into a war within 12 months. Very good at getting. The getting out or winning? Not so much.
The first reactor unknowingly leaked tritium into the Chesapeake for some time until a detector was built to pick up on the beta radiation. The instrumentation in the SM-1 pre-dated the development of solid-state devices and used vacuum tubes.
I’m curious why those two guys were handling the fuel rods without any radiation protection.
New, unused fuel rods are not radioactive, it's only the used fuel that is dangerous.
Why can't we have nice things like this anymore?
Are you talking about the nuclear reactor? This is about the nuclear reactor design that had a disaster that happened in Idaho in 1960. The reactor was a test of the design to provide power for the DEW line. Distant Early Warning system. Watching for Russian bombers flying over the North Pole. This was before spy satellites. DEW line was no longer needed after spy satellites were invented. This disaster was kept top secret until the 1990s. You can look up the disaster by searching for "Army nuclear reactor disaster Idaho."
I wonder why this cannot be used today?
Well it's decommissioned now and being dismantled. A few orgs are trying to rekindle expertise is building and maintaining air-shippable reactors.
@@whatisnuclear what I mean is why can’t this technology be used today? We know how to build them. R and D done decades ago. Small Modular Reactors ready and waiting to be built.
efficiency scales with size. it's way too small to be economical.
@Muonium1 Unfortunately all forms of electrical generation is subsidised.
Because in 1961 there was a reactor accident with the successor SL-1. SL-1 is the only nuclear accident in the United States to date in which people were killed. At the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho at 9:01 p. m. , the prototype of a military boiling water reactor, the SL-1, which had been shut down over Christmas, quickly became supercritical for a few milliseconds, releasing about 6,000 times the power for which the facility was designed. Before the reactivity could be reduced by the formation of vapour bubbles (see vapour bubble coefficient), the fuel elements of the small reactor core made of highly enriched uranium (90%) already disintegrated. The 2 m high water column surrounding the core collided with the reactor lid at 9 m/s - the water level had been lowered slightly for maintenance work - and caused the entire 12-tonne boiler to rise almost 3 m up to the floor, thereby pushing the steering rod back in completely.
Wow.......that was plywood angle.........hand loading ......very tricky ....I heard they drop one of the core rods......big problem....cheers
You are like American version of RBMK5000
No, not at all lika an RBMK.
@@skunkjobb youtube channels, not reactors
I like seeing integrated work site for that time ….
These are the grandfather of SMRs.
Absolutely. It will take us a long time to reach the level of skill they had to run the truck-mounted ML-1 came out of this program. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML-1
Why ? Cost , difficulty of support, ultimately impractical. Hard or not air support works.
Cost? Shipping tons of diesel each week to the Arctic, compared to this little reactor that runs for ten years between refueling? I don’t think so.
With all that concrete and steel, what could be the total weight of such a plant? Surely a few thousand tons. I don't really see this as transportable by air to remote bases.
This one was a prototype not actually intended to fly. They did use the info they learned here and made one that was actually air-lifted, assembled, and operated: th-cam.com/video/T9S1P54n1FA/w-d-xo.html
They have many designs of micro and compact reactors. Nobody is bothered to invest the money to bring them to commercial fruition
That does not seem very portable.
Agreed, but they were just working through enabling technologies. This led to one that was actually portable and actually air lifted, see: th-cam.com/video/T9S1P54n1FA/w-d-xo.html
@@whatisnuclear Yeah. I think I already saw that video but I will take a look. Thank you for your reply!
I don't believe the love triangle thing, good cover story though.
This film is 65 years old not 6 years ..... Get real..
What a waste of time and money.