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1 0-I AEc 755/36 Februar 27, 1661 COPY,-NO.A.L ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION REPORT BY DR. LOUIS B. WERNER, ABC SCIENTIFIC REP•ESENTATIV, LONDON Note by the Secretary The General Manager has requested that the attached memorandum and enclosures from the Director of International Affairs be circulated for the information of the Commission. W, B. McCool Secretary DISTRIBUTION COPY NO. DISTRIBUTION COPY NO. Secretary 1 International Affairs 29 - 39 Commissioners 2 - 6,81 Licensing & Regulation 40 - 41 General Manager 7 Operations Analysis 42 Deputy Gen. Mgr. 8 Production 43 - 44 Asst. Gen. Mgr. 9- 10 Raw Materials 45 - 46 Asst. Gen. Mgr. IA 11 Reactor Development 5 - 55 Asst. Gen. Mgr. Mfg. 12 Research Asst. Gen. Mgr. R&S 13 Security 56 Asst. Gen. Mgr. R&ID 14 Special Projects Asst. Gen. Mgr. Adm. 15 Albuquerque Oprns. 58 5-7 60 Asst, to the GM 16 Chicago Oprns. 61 - 62 General Counsel 17 - 20 Hanford Oprns. 63 Biology & Medicine 21 Idaho Oprns. 64 - 65 Classification 22 New York Oprns. 66 Congr. Relations 23 Oak Ridge Oprns. 67-69 Health & Safety 24 San Francisco Oprns. 70 Isotope Development 25 Savannah River Oprns. 71 - 72 Public Information 26 - 27 D. C. Office 73 - 75 Intelligence 28 Secretariat 76 - 80 When sen enclosures3 ha . LASSIFIED fit, CMEN qITH CONTAINS CLA FENSE INFORMATION RRNTOREBILII'TRAL FILES ROOM 016 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum TO : A. R. Luedecke, General Hianaj2pr DATE: FEB 13 16 THRU: John A. Hall, AGMIIA fl.' FROM. : A. A. Wells, i o Division of I~ e a SUBJECT: REPORT PREPARED BY DR. LOUIS B. WERNER AT CONCLUSION OF HIS TOUR OF DUTY AS AEC SCIENTIFIC REPRESENTATIVE, LONDON Attached is a report prepared by Dr. Louis B. Werner at the con clusion of his tour of duty as AEC Scientific Representative in London. Dr. Werner served in the London post from August 1958 until January 1961. Also included is a copy of a Foreign Service Despatch from the Charge d'Affaires, American Embassy, London, the Department of State. to The despatch commends Dr. Werner warmly for his effective performance in London and expresses the views of Sir Roger Makins, Chairman, UKAEA, that relations between the U.S. and U.K. in the atomic energy field are closer than at any time since the war, The despatch states that Dr. Werner made a significant contribution to the smooth working of the U.S./U.K. relationship and thereby to the overall effectiveness of the Embassy. Dr. Werner's report is in two parts. Part one summarizes the British nuclear energy program. Highlights of this part are: 1. In June 1960, the U.K. Minister of Power announced that national nuclear the power program goals had been reduced to a possible 5000 megawatts of installed nuclear capacity by 1968. 2. The objectives of the U.K. reactor development program are first, to insure successful construction and operation of the power stations now under construction develop and second, to advanced zeactors that will provide progressively cheaper power. 3. The Central Electricity Generating Board has been reluctant to order the best developed advanced concepts, the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR), on the basis that even more economicall1 promising concepts are expected years.. within a few Thus, too short a time exists for full exploitation of AGR, which itself is not yet advanced prototype to the operating stage. The AEA has vigorously pushed the most promising the AGR as candidate for the next generation of This material contains information national affecting the defense of the United States within the meaning of the espionage laws, Title 18, U.S.C., See. 793 and 794., the transmission or of revelation which in anm, manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law. by Authouity Of (Declassifiratiot Autority/Numbeq Date of Declassification a• 72/Tl reactors, and there is no doubt that the CEGB will order a number of AGR stations. For later generations power of civil stations, development of the fast reactor, temperature the high gas-cooled reactor, and to a lesser extent steam generating the heavy water reactor, has been undertaken. 4. The construction of a nuclear propelled merchant ship has received a great deal of attention and study but as of January 1961, no decision by the government had been reached. 5. Faced with the prospect of lean year3 in the power business, four of the five consortia, which were originally formed explore commercial to applications of power reactors, rierged to conserve resources. In part two of his report Dr. Werner comments operation on U.S./U.K. co in the civil uses of atomic energy and cooperative describes the& programs between the AEC and AEA in .cooled advanced gas reactors, high temperature gas-cooled reactors, Libby/Cockcroft the exchange, nuclear physics chemistry, biological sciences, chemical processing, and feed materials. He also comments on the recently proposed areas of exchange on production plants, diffusion plants and gas centrifuge processes. Attachments: 1. Dr. Werner's Report 2. Foreign Service Despatch 1354 -2 - / J BRITISH NUCLEAR PROGRESS AND US/UK COOPERATION ON THE CIVIL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY Terminal report prepared by: Louis B. Werner AEC Scientific Representative London, England January 18, 1961 "-3- INTRODUCTION Possibly none of the international cooperative activities of the Commission has produced a more extensive exchange of scientific information, ideas and technical reports, or has stimulated closer personal working relationships between scientists of two countries than that arising out of collaboration with the UK. An opportunity to observe and participate in this collaboration program for a period of over two years is both a challenging and rewarding experience. The occasion of the (nearly) biannual replacement of the AAC Scientific Representative in London offers a suitable opportunity to review significant events of the past two years and to record some impressions of the status of the UK nuclear energy program, and US/UK cooperation which may be of interest to the Headquarters staff. British nuclear energy activities are already widely reported upon and followed with great interest. This is true for several reasons: first, because of the relatively large size and high state of development of the national atomic energy research and development program; second, because Great Britain has had the most advanced construction program in the world for civil nuclear power; and third, because of the high technical capabilities and aggressiveness of British scientists and engineers. One should also refer to British developments in military uses of nuclear energy by virtue of which the UK is our only strong nuclear ally. A consequence of the mutual regard which the US and the UK have for each others programs, and the interdependence of the two countries in this field, is that a considerable number of visits are made to each other's facilitiesfor exchange of information, for. discussions, and for purposes of consultation, starting at the top level with the periodic meetings between the Chairmen of the Atomic Energy Authority and the Atomic Energy Commission. Matters of major importance to the Commission are subjects for staff studies, reporting, and distributions within AEC. However, a large amount of information is also available in special reports on conferences, symposia, technical exchanges, and individual scientists visits, as well as the routine and special reports prepared by the ABC overseas office, and the extensive coverage given by the commercial and technical press. Some thought has, therefore, been given to the preparation of this report as to what choice of content might be of greatest interest. It has been decided to present a brief recapitulation of the principal activities over the approximate two year period since similar previous reports were issued(l,2) in order that the extensive scope of British activities in civil uses of nuclear energy as well as the scope of US/UK collaboration during this period will be made evident, and some of the principal'problems in these areas identified. (1) US-UK Cooperationlin the Development of Peaceful Uses of .Atomic Energy" by Edward L. Brady, ABC Scientific Representative. October 29, 1958. (2) "Major Developments in Atomic Energy in the UK in the Last Year and Their Bearing on Relations with the US" by Howard Meyers and Edward L. Brady. Foreign Service Despatch 1008, October 24, 1958 (CONF) 4 S j The British program for development of military uses of atomic energy is, of course, a very important one, particularly in the areas of nuclear weapons, and an effective exchange is taking place under the US/UK Agreement for Cooperation on the uses of atomic energy for mutual defense purposes. However, no reference will be made in this report to military developments and collaboration since this is outside the terms of reference of the AEC overseas office. -5- I PART I British Nuclear Energy Program I. GENERAL The British research and development program in atomic energy covers a broad range of interests from basic physical and bio However, logical science to practical applications in many fields. the British effort has been its nuclear power program. the core of of. At its most optimistic point, the UK established national goals by 5000-6000 MW (electrical) generating capacity to be completed 1965. In addition it was fully expected that a sizeable export market might be developed. With this outlook the technical objective was to provide the means whereby this goal could be reached. Progressing from the experience of the ill-fated Windscale reactors, the Calder Hall (and Chapelcross) design was developed and the stations completed to produce in 1956 the first commercial nuclear power generation in the world. With an attitude of justifiable confidence, efforts were next turned to improvement of the basic Calder design and the indoctrination of the industrial consortia which were to reduce the improved design, with contributions of their own, to economic practice.