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TORUS COMPLETE! Volume 11, Number 2 March-April 1974 “AT 0M Published bimonthly by the University of California, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Ofice of Public Information, TA-3, West Jernez Road, Los Alamos, New fifexico 87544. Address mail to P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544. Second Class Postage Paid at Los Alamos, N.M.

I 1 Scyllac: Closing the Gap COVER 7 Agnew Speaks Out A moment long awaited by the LOS Alamos Scientific Laboratory-and by the 12 Science Spectrum Atomic Energy Commission and seg- ments of the scientific-industrial com- 14 Photo Shorts munity with a stake in energy sources of 16 Short Subjects the future-arrived last month when Scyllac’s torus was at last complete. 17 Among Our Guests How Scyllac has “come full circle” and 18 Service Awards what may lie ahead in Controlled Ther- monuclear Research is described in the 20 The Iron Dogs of Anaktuvuk Pass article beginning on Page 1. 24 10 Years Ago in Los Alamos There to record the moment was Bill Jack Rodgers, ISD-7. This mare-than routine photo required more than rou- tine preparation. Group CTR-3 hung a scaffold from the ceiling, onto which Rodgers climbed from the Scyllac build- ing’s overhead crane. There, lashed securely by a safety strap, Rodgers liter- ally swung from the rafters to give The Atom readers an unusual perspective of Scyllac-and one which is not likely to be repeated soon.

Editor: Jack Nelson Photography: Bill Jack Rodgers, Henry Ortega, “Mitzi” Ulibarri, Wayne Hanson Office: D-442-BAdministration Building. Tele- phone: 665-6102. Printed by the University of New Mexico Printing Plant, Albuquerque. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, an equal opportunity employer, is operated by the Uni- versity of California for the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Frcd Rilm, C’CK-Division leader, untl George Suwyer, alternate division leader, look over sprawling Scyllac itistcrlla~ioti--crnd wonder wliai‘s trl-itmd in Contridled Therrnnnucleur Research now that the torus is complete.

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first coiitrollctl tliernionurlcar rr- sriircli in tlic whimsically namcd I’rrliapsation of 1953 to the prcscnt inmmiotli apparatus filling a build- ing tlic si/e oi a gymnasium, they liitd trod a path in time measuring 22 ycars aiid rnarkcd by many thou- sands of experiments. Coinplct ing the “doiighnut,” thus trcatiiig a tirbc withoui rnds lrorn which I>lasl1ii1( arinot escape, at last gives CY It-4 tlic hardware to test what has long becn prcdictcd: the lull torus sliould extend thermo- nnclcar burn 5 to LO times its prcscnt cluiation.

1 “Bridge deck“ of Scyllac was in- stalled in 1971. Warren Quinn, now CTR-3 group leader, posed at the time with the then new equipment.

If theory proves correct, it will be -Extended plasma containment The theta-pinch principle estab- a bright omen for a nation acutely time from 12 microseconds achiev- lishes this magnetic field around aware of the necessity to develop cd with 1/3 of the open-end tor- the chamber at right angles to the ncw cnergy sources. It will mean oidal sector during the last 2 years axis of the torus. The force created that the eventual generation of to 50-100 microseconds within the pushes the plasma towards the powcr in massive amounts, by fuel closed chamber. chamber axis. from the ocean sufficient for mil- Achieving these objectives would i\ problem in the theta-pinch lions of years, may be a realistic lead to larger, more advanced process is that when applied in a expectation. Scyllac configurations in the future simple torus, magnetic flux is capable of containing burning denser along the shorter inner- Moments of Truth Ahead plasma for 1/ 100 second, thereby chamber circumference than the Now suspense will mount as the producing energy equal to the outer. ‘I’he plasma tends to drift pace of experimentation quickens. amount required for maintaining towards the outer wall because it Significant events may follow in the fusion reaction. encounters less pressure from that direction. months rather than the years of the Theta-Pinch pre-Scyllac era now ended. By fall, Compensating for this is a large In the theta-pinch concept, mag- CTK-3hopes it will have: part of what recent Scyllac research -Tuned the massive, computer- netic forces are employed to com- has been about. Part of the solution monitored apparatus to balance press plasma away from material is in the present intricate “cork- magnetic energies of 10 megajoules walls because no known substance screw” chamber-a computer-de- can contain plasma heated to tem- with such delicacy that they will signed geometry of hairpinlike wig- peratures exceeding those within align the compressed plasma per- gles equalizing the 2 circumferences. the sun. Magnetic fields are un- fectly along a complex helical axis Sculpting this complex shape affected by heat. at pressures on the order of 120 into custom-machined solid alum- By stripping electron shells from atmospheres (about 1 ton per inum coils requires a sophisticated atoms ot deuterium (a hydrogen milling head made in Italy by only square inch). isotope) in the gaseous state, accom- 1 company of its kind. Bob Barnes, -Conducted as many as 1,000 ex- plished in the chamber by a rela- shop foreman, Jim Robinson, Wen- perimental shots. Groups CTR-3 tively mild preliminary magnetic dell “Smitty” Smith, Emmanuel and CTR-8 will make basic meas- pulse, a plasma ol nuclei and free “Mike” Spanos, and Ray Voos have urements including neutron pro- electrons is created. This plasma is spent 4 months completing this duction (the major source of usable then compressed by an extremely work. thermonuclear energy), plasma tem- strong magnetic field, The abrupt But these ingenious contortions perature, plasma pressure, and the compression generates a tempera- don’t solve the problem entirely, so key measurement of all: the time ture of 10-20 million degrees Celsius, CTR-3 and CTR-4 have devised a burning plasma can be contained. precipitating the fusion reaction. continued on page 4

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feedback system to push the others, and prompted by reports of projcct was named Sherwood-an pinchcd plasma back into position controlled thermonuclear rcsearch obvious allusion to the Merry Men’s as ncccssary. Sensors report a drift about to start in other countries, habitat. dcvcloping and relay this warning Admiral Lewis Stiauss, then AEC Following inconclusive, but none- to amplifiers. I‘hcse in turn deliver chairman, asked a number of scicn- theless encouraging, experiments in a compensating magnetic jolt-all Lists in 1953 to advise him of the tlic of 1953, Scylla I in 1 millionth of a second. feasibility of controlled thermonu- was built. The name, taken from If all goes with perfection, the clear fusion. Greek mythology, is that of a 6- violently compressed ions interact, Told that prospects were prom- hcaded, 12-footed monster which fusing to form helium nuclei and in ising, Strauss detcrmincd to launch dwelt in thc Straits of Messina tlic process relcasiiig an avalanche a piogram at once. across irom a whirIpool and had a of neutrons and large amounts of Normally, major progiaim such voracious appctite for sailors. The encrgy. as this require a year or more lor name is associated with a particu- Out of the Forest planning and funding. Strauss by- larly difficult passage, no doubt the Scyllac is a major experiment in passed this with a bit of legitimate reason the name was chosen for the the Atomic Energy Commission’s banditry. tlicta-pinch program. Controllctl Thermonuclcar Re- Finding a contract at thc Massa- Scylla I was a linear devicc- search (CTR) program, until re- chusetts Institute of Technology ielatively easy and cheap to build, ccntly called Project Sherwood. with an underrun, Strauss, like and while its straight tube permit- Following somc early theorizing Robin Hood, took lrom the “iich” ted escape of thc pinched plasma and research by , to give to the “poor”-in this case, irom the ends, it allowed much Jim Tuck (former LASL P-Division LASL’s controlled thermonuclear experimentation. It was in Scylla I associate leader, now retired), and 1csearch program. The thcn-secret (subsequently donated to the

Robert Barnes and Wendell Smith, both SD-5, check Granddaddy of all CTR research devices is the Perhaps- freshly machined aluminum coil. Note curve of cham- atron. This earliest known photo (1953) shows Emory ber. Coils with configurations like this give chamber StovaII, CTR-6, in foreground. Device was in long- its ”corkscrew” shape. since demolished U-Building, vicinity of Los Alamos Inn.

4 Eerie “electric trees” seemingly grow from a metal land- scape in this 1969 photo taken of a test of Scyllac pro- totype coil. A 55,000-volt discharge which flowed over a mylar sheet invisible in photo created the effect.

loius. ‘J’hc llowirig lithiiim would tions OC tlie cyclc. In addition, lhc IIiiiislcr heat to Itcat cxclinngers, cxhaust tvould be rccyclcd to rc- whidi in turii would ~IO~LKCstcam ( ovci un1)urricd clruteriurn (for a& for I iirl)o-geiic,1-iitors. (In more ad tlitional Fuel) and hcliuiit which vm(ctl sclic,irics, Iicat would I)c would bemine availilble 1or com- tr;indoirnetl tlircctly into clcctri- incrt ial piposes. Lithium would (ity.) bo pi ocesscd to yicltl tritium, a V,ilvcs would opcri to cxli;iu5t tlie inan-rriadt, iwtopc whit h more !,perit gas, ;ind ii rtcw cytlc would I catlily igiii~es in thcrmonuclcar Iqin: i rij t~ iion, corrii)l-c4sioti-igni- I)Ulll. lion, power, cxharist. Evcry 3-10 ‘1 hc net power output, assuming wcoiids (tnoi c Crequcnily iC a rool- ;I toius 14 tiirirs tlic diameter or iiig ~ystcrii;incl laster cxliaust sys- it of tlic present Sc yllx, would ~ciiiXVCIC atltlcrl), thc great cqinc bc 1,200 n1cgaw;ltIs. Just $00 Such woultl thus throb. plant5 c oiiltl provitlc all tlic prcscnt About 48 per cell( of Ihc thcrmal clectiical power nectls 01 the na- cwc~gywoulcl be convcrtctl 10 clcr- tion. tt ic‘il orrlprxi al‘tcr rctaining a por- ,Z virtiiiilly mdles supply ol dcrx- lion iri tlic 1)latit to power icpcti- tcriurn, wliicli exists 1 part in 6,700

5 in water, would be “mined” and A Lifetime of CTR CTR-2, have been associated with “smelted” by plants by the side of This is the vision of the men of the program since the ’50’s. the sea. The energy in 1 liter of CTR-Division, under the direction The day when the first controlled seawater equals that of 300 liters of of Fred Ribe, who have dedicated a thermonuclear power plant goes on gasoline. major portion of their professional line may be 20 or more years away. Lithium, useful for breeding tri- lives to controlled thermonuclear But in the context of an energy tium, does not appear to be in so research. source that may serve man for abundant supply. But by the time Some, like George Sawyer, alter- thousands of years, and in relation thermonuclear plants are built and nate CTR-Division leader, Warren to the time these men have already operating, most scientists believe Quinn, CTR-3 group leader, Emory invested, that doesn’t seem like such that by then it will be possible to Stovall and Jim Phillips, both a long wait at that. @ dispense with lithium entirely. CTR-6, and Louis Burkhardt,

New CTR Division Formed “Because of the increased emphasis on develop- The group structure will be as follows: ment of and the great promise CTK-1 (Plasma Research)-Harry Drei- which it holds for helping provide the world’s cer, group leader. energy needs, we believe that LASL’s Controlled CTR-2 (Z-Pinch Experiments)-Don A. Baker, Thermonuclear Research efforts must now be group leader; Joseph Di Marco, alternate group raised to division status,” Harold Agnew, Direc- leader. tor, said in announcing the formation of CTR- CTR-3 (Theta-Pinch Experiments, Scyl1ac)- Division, effective April 1. Warren Quinn, group leader; William Ellis, Fred Ribe has been named division leader associate group leader. with George Sawyer as alternate division leader. CTR-4 (Engineering)-Edwin Kemp, group Ribe has been a staff member at LASL since leader; Robert Dike, associate group leader. 1951. In 1963 he received a Guggenheim Fellow- CTR-5 (Plasma Research)-John Marshall, ship Award which enabled him to study processes group leader. in high temperature laboratory plasmas at the CTR-6 (Plasma Theory)-Werner Riesenfeld, Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany. He group leader; Jeffrey Freidberg, alternate group is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and leader; Clair Nielson, associate group leader. a member of the American Nuclear Society. Ribe CTR-7 (Advanced Development and Tech- was associate division leader directing controlled nology)-Keith Thomassen, group leader: Keith thermonuclear research for Q-Division of the Thomas, alternate group leader. Laboratory. CTR-8 (Plasma Diagnostics)-Franz Jahoda, Sawyer joined LASL in 1950. In 1960 he was group leader; Peter Forman, associate group a visiting scientist at the Royal Institute of Tech- leader. nology, Stockholm, Sweden. Sawyer is a member The first 7 groups previously existed as such of the American Physical Society and was group in Q-Division and have generally been trans- leader of Q-3 (Theta-Pinch Experiments, ferred intact from Q-Division to CTR-Division. Scyllac). Group CTR-8 is a newly formed one. The CTR- In addition to Ribe and Sawyer, others in the Division initially will include about 135 people, CTR-Division Office will be: Keith Thomassen, but this number is expected to increase when associate division leader for technology and ad- additional funding for CTR activities becomes vanced development; Maurice Katz, assistant di- available. vision leader for administration; Harriett Sass, The President’s budget for Fiscal Year 1975 division secretary; and Jean Donham, secretary. proposes an expenditure of nearly $13 million James L. Tuck, who for many years directed for CTR work at LASL-a 60-per-cent increase CTR research at LASL and is now retired, will over the current year’s $8.1 million. serve as a consultant to the new CTR-Division.

6 'The Alom records intcrrvievv wifh +he Director

on his 25fA a.nniversriry with LASL, anticipating merely a pleasant s.irol%down momery lune. Instecrd U

7 (After graduation from the University of , Harold M. Agnew worlted with at the in achie-oing the world‘s first fission reaction, then came to Los Alamos in 1943 to work on the . Except for absences to earn his doctorate in physics and to serve as scientific advisor to the Supreme Allied Command of NATO, he has been here since. Agnew was Weap- ons Physics Division leader when he was named Laboratory Llirector in 1970.)

You participated in achieving the world’s first fission reaction before coming to Los Alamos. Did you and your colleagues foresee “. . . the military position of lhe country where this would lead? is experiencing n bad situation.” I certainly didn’t anticipate all the things that were going to happen. Perhaps we thought that nuclear Have there been changes in defense and deterrents? power would come into being a lot fastcr than it has. We certainly hadn’t anticipated some of the furor It’s a much more difficult problem. As a result of the that has grown up with regard to safety and sitings of fiasco of the Vietnam War, the military position of the these plants, I had always thought of the atom as country is experiencing a bad situation. The volun- being a good thing-still do, I guess. teer army is not going very well, so the weapons work has continuing problems. Some of us at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory have been looking at Among the illustrious scientists of those days, the possibility of really restructuring the whole to whom did you feel closest? nuclear stockpile and affecting tremendous savings in material, in manpower. It’s a rather bold type of I was a personal friend of Enrico Fermi and I was a endeavor and would rock a lot of boats. graduate student of his. My wife and I lived with I don’t know whether it will ever come about, but him-as sort of butler and housemaid, you might one could do a tremendous reordering and restruc- say-lor half a year while we were trying to find turing of the stockpile, which in part could be mined housing. He was a marvelous person and had such a of fissile materials and make a tremendous contribu- fantastic intellect. We still keep quite close to Mrs. tion toward alleviating the energy shortage in the Fermi. When I go through Chicago, which is almost next 5-10 years. once a week, I always try to talk with her on the phone. Are your views similar to those of Defense Secretary Schlesinger’y? Would you compare conditions of 30 years ago to those at LASL today? I don‘t know. 1 think he is having to face up to a bunch of problems that he has inherited and I be- When I first came, wc were just building, everything lieve some of his questions, namely, do we really was booming. The people were essentially all under have a deterrent in the eyes of our potential enemies, 30, housing conditions by our standards today were are questions which I feel have been neglected for very, very bad. But even with the mud and all the quite a number of years. He’s addressing those prob- trials and tribulations, I think, in a way, it was more lems. I certainly don’t argue with his approach. How fun than today. It was just very exciting, you knew successful he’ll be with the Congress, we’ll just have what you were doing, and, of course, there were no to wait and see. money problems as far as the Lab was concerned. As far as Washington was concerned, they were there to really help get the job done, not to question contin- It took only 2 years to produce the atomic bomb. ually why you’re doing what you’re doing. Why must we wait 20 or more years I think that the competence in the Laboratory is in for practical fusion power? no way diminished. But the urgency in the context of ~ a full-scale, two-front world war, where you’re worry- The difficulty with controlled fusion is today no one ing about the other fellow doing the same thing and knows how to do it. doing it first, is quite different. Now, there is a way to conduct fusion which we

8 Do graduating scientists today have fewer or morc opportunities than when you started out?

011, 1 lliiiik the oplm tunitics ai(>prctty iriuch what oiic ~ii,ilic~oI tliciri. I iliiiili there arc cyclcs dcpcriding iipoii ilic gcmci ‘11 cLoiioiiii( coiicli~ions,but rlici c ii a t i cwicntloiis potciiii‘il now lmause tliri e has bccn a IW in the nuriibci oi sticntists antl crigiriccis coiiiiiig ont 01 miivcrsitics in thc past 5 or 50 years. to, I iliirik thcrc i\ going to be a trrnendous markct loi t(~(liiiology,riot only ill this country, but in South aiid (kiiti

. I____I____-~ -- _I Has the energy crisis caused any shifts of emphasis in science?

-1_1

Well, 1 tliink tlic only worry t.h;it oiic might have, ;md it’s a real worry, is tliiit thcrc may bc too inrxcli of ari ciiiphasis on applictl science aiid riot enough on basic resciircli or piire science, which sort 01 says,

9 don’t ask me what it’s going to do for me today, but it’s the technological base I’m going to need in order to achieve practical accomplishments in the future. You can see this shifting in the various government agencies that support research. I think it has been perhaps long overdue that people haven’t put more emphasis on applied research, but at the same time, one must continue to maintain very strong and vigorous basic research. In our Lab, unfortunately, one of the things that has been going down, down each year has been our basic research. It was very difficult to maintain in the past years because the total budget had gone down. Now, with the reverse, we are struggling very hard to see if we can get money-you might say siphoning a “Clearly, if there is this island of stability in little bit off the top-to support more adequately our 7~eryheaiiy elements, we will De most inter- basic research programs. ested in it. . . .”

we will be most interested in it, not only for purely Where is science heading? scientific reasons, but these materials could have some very interesting properties relevant to national I believe that some of the large gains are probably defense. going to be more in the biological sciences rather than the physical sciences, although there are some very ~~ ~ clear examples of phenomenology in astrophysics, Has the state of the economy affected LASL? black holes and such, that could lead to some ex- tremely interesting fundamental findings. And I think You could say that for the first time in a long time, it some of the new accelerators-the accelerator at Ba- looks like we’ll have an ample amount of housing. tavia, the national accelerator laboratory, and our But if we hire as many people as we expect, we’ll own meson facility-could bring about really new con- probably have a housing crunch in another year. cepts in the study and understanding of matter and And if you talk with Van Gemert, Supply and the universe. Property, he’ll tell you what used to take 2 months now takes maybe 6 months. People don’t know when they’ll be able to deliver and don’t know what the price is going to be when they do. This escalation is going to present tremendous problems for us. When we went in for our new DP site, our con- tractor costed out a refinery for Shell at around $220 million. That refinery is now costing out at over $480 million-and this is in just 2% years. I think we were extremely fortunate in getting LAMPF when we did. We hit it just right. People were eager for the work, eager to bid. Now, it would cost more than twice as much and take twice as long. Everything is just getting out of hand. We don’t know what’s going to happen on some of our con- struction projects that are in the planning phase or that have just been started. “I think some of the new accelerators . . . could bring about really new concepts . . . of matter and the universe.” How do you feel personally about moving out of the lab and behind a desk?

How about low-energy experiments with heavy ions? Oh, sometimes I miss being able to actually do some- thing, which you can do in the laboratory as an ex- We’ll just have to see what’s going to happen there, perimentalist rather than just write papers or argue and depending on what happens, the country may about papers that other people write. decide to build a heavy-ion accelerator. Clearly, if Or respond to a bunch of seemingly stupid teletypes there is this island of stability in very heavy elements, or requests day after day.

10 You‘re getting more of thesc?

lhis singular sculpture sits in Agnew‘s ofice. Links of bologna are rather gro- tesquely being disgorged from a gar- goylelike creature‘s mouth. Surely no oilier laboraior y director‘s office any- where has a piece like it.

Aside from cxpressing i~ioiceloquently than words Agnew’s personal distaste tor baloney, it rcveals another aspect of Agnew’s pcisoiiality: never to take ihe world’s or otic‘s own foibles so seriously that one cannot laugh.

A senso of humor in high places may be the ultimate weapon in saving the world from itself. Straight from the Heart

Anesthesiologists can safely ignore a little static occasionally obliter- ating the EKG (electrocardiogram) traces they monitor during non- critical operations. But when arrhythmia or heart arrest is a possibility, they would much prefer to read the heart's performance at all times. Easier said than done. When surgeons use an ESU (electrosurgical unit) during open heart surgery, unwanted electrical currents from spark gaps of probes and cauterizing devices flow through tissue and into EKG monitors, obliterating the trace like this:

To eliminate this troublesome "blackout," typically lasting 3-10 seconds, Danny Doss and Bill McCabe, both MP-3, developed a radio- frequency isolation transformer and an improved EKG preamplifier design. These devices screen out electrical noise to allow a virtually undisturbed EKG trace like this:

The devices are used once or twice a week at the Los Alamos Medical Center and have attracted attention within the medical profession. Swimjing Super Spectsgrapk

A new, 95,000-kilograni (over 100 ions) as- setriblage of magnets and a deiection chaniber ihat piroueties on CI tiiil nround CI stationary .iarget chamber at P-9’s Tntidctn Vun (le (;racifT facility may lead to irnpot-iani-findings it1 light-and hcavy- ion nuclear physic:;. The> W3U Magnetic Spr:cl t-ograph Systom re- places .the smaller FIbek Mugnctic Spe(:trogruph. Th(+ new appa rtxtirs iiicrcasm rig u In I- acceptance, and ihus the tlnitr-laking rate ant1 sonsitivily, 40- fold. Speclra resoluiiori is t1iot.c than doubled. The sped rograpli Taci I ii a I cs current I ig hi-ion experitncrris tJ!;illCJ beams of deuiororts, Iriiorls, anc licliiiin ions. And it gives 1’-9 the hardware to begin CJ new scrim of cxpwirnenis ihis yeat- with hetrvy-ion bcmms of carbon, oxygen, sullur, and other elernc:nts. A quadrupole clrid 3 dipoh magnois geriernte u rnaximvm field beriding :;trongih of 18,000 gcruss. Witli this field, proion cnergics up io 155 MeV can k)c rrieasured. Vatyittg tho field sirength allows study of tnany diilcrenl particlt:s antl ener- Getting Potted gies. Rolatirrg the tlcvice pcriniis measureinonis of a ri g u la r distributions. Ed Flynn, Nelson Sieiii, and Joe Shet-man, all P-9, tire c:ondiJciing experiments. Stuari Orbeseri Gelting potted is not recommended for humans, and Dick Woods, bo.th 1’-9, handle technical but ii’s a fine way to insulate tnagnets exposed io aspccts of ihc inatnmoih spuclr-ograpli, ihe installa-. iniense radiation, such as generated at the proton lioti of which began a year ago and was corn-. tar-get of LAMPF’s Stopped Muon Channel. plctcd late in February. The potiing medium, surprisingly, is cement. Cnsiing it about the 4 copper-wound quadrupole and bending magnei coils, which are firsi wr-apped in glciss tape, is like pouring c~ cement sidewalk trround rcbnr. 1-he coils are placed in a mold and cement is poured around ihem. The mold is vibrated to as- sure even clistribution. l’hc finished products are thc! cement-encased coils, shown in the photo trbove, now installed on ihe mugnets, where they shape meson beurns while subjected to constant,

heavy radiation. , Smallcr beam-line magrieis had previously been insulated by the same technique. I.his represents thct first application to large magneis. Earlier tests had confirmed resistivity and me-. chanical integriiy of the cement, specially formul- atod by Group CMB-6. lhe coil may short to ground as a I-esuli of water saturation, but regains its full insulation properties upon dry-out. The concept was developed by the late Jerry Rosenlhal, CMB-6, and Herb Vogel, MP-7 (in photo). Among its advaniuges: simplicity, reliahil- ity, and substantial savings in fabrication and rn ci ier ia Is. Newsmen representing 8 organizations attend a briefing by Charles Browne, J- Division leader (standing), at the Nevada Test Site prior to the Feb. 27 Latir test of a nuclear device in the AEC-defined 20-200 kiloton range. Some observers later viewed the subsidence crater after mon- itoring the test on closed-circuit TV in the CP-1 readiness briefing room. This was the first underground test at the Nevada Test Site open to newsmen and observers in 2% years. A spring for a high one by Barry Newberger, T-6, signals the arrival of spring at Los Alamos. Increasing numbers of LASL employees are frequenting nearby tennis courts for a few quick sets during the lunch period. Other signs of spring: more joggers, cyclists, and employees enjoying their lunch in the springtime sun.

Through these portals pass the most puzzled people in Los Alamos-like Sally Rhodes, ENG-2, and Jean Capelli, ENG-3, checking out by Security Inspector Marvin Click. Guesses range from a metal detector to the unprintable. Correct answer: the device is a doorway monitor to detect the removal of special nuclear material. It is installed at the Administration Building main entrance to test the monitor itself. By installing the monitor in an area of negligible radioactive source movement, Group A-2, which developed the device, is determining any tendencies towards "false alarms" due to statistical fluctuations or extraneous background. Tests may be concluded this month.

14 ”Gteetings {toin Deuischlatid- I’m here at thc ~nic-plaiick-lnslitulfur 191asnia[~hysikon 6 niorlths leavo OS nbseiice WOI king oil n Itilajoulr! iodine laser system atid liere’s a piclum of the genilemen I work with. Froin lelt to righf, rnc, Dr. Kristian Iiohia, Dr. Karl Kompu, Dr. Gutiber Brcderlow, and the kilojoule-ncino;cc.ond ioditio loser Iieud. The tower’s up, the drill is heading down “Must rest up now for the Fasching (etrriiivcul) party at Group w-22’~Fenton Hill Geothermal isinurrow. Sec you in April.” ‘lest Site. Men of Calvert Western Drilling t’: Ir (1 t lir 11 riisl P t ‘111 (IC Ir e t Csnipany, Tulsa, Oklahoma, such as the welder above, have drilled to a depth of (1,1 (;roup I ,exlcT> 720 meters, expect to reach Q-22’s goal of 1,400 meters this month. Men are on 24-hOUr, 7-day-a-week shifts.

15 Group 4-23 has begun a new series of subter- rene experiments at TA-5, Beta Site. By melting 50 holes in an arch-tunnel pattern, a small excava- short subjects tion 4 meters deep is being made. Tests to melt a 30-meter-deep hole in basalt at a new site in Ancho Canyon will soon begin. Experiments may lead to large scale tunneling by arrays of subterrenes melt- tin%simultaneously. 1,ASL’s first J. Robert Oppenheimer Research Fellowship has been awarded to David K. Camp- * bell, presently a member o€ the Institute for Ad- vanced Study, Princeton, N .J. Campbell will Roy Greiner, Larry Blair, and Jim Young, all work in T-Division. Id-3, have completed experiments conducted The Fellowship was established to bring out- jointly at Sandia Laboratories using Sandia’s standing recent recipients of doctoral degrees to electron beam accelerator to ignite a hydrogen- LASL for special postdoctoral research. fluorine mixture very rapidly in a LASL-designed chemical laser tube. Purpose: to show that this approach can yield a large quantity of energy at high chemical and electrical efficiency for possible laser-fusion application. Results: 2,500 joules in H. Jack Blackwell, manager of the Atomic 25 nanoseconds yielding a hundred billion watts Energy Commission’s Los Alamos Area Office, peak power. Work is continuing at LASL. has been transferred to the Office of the Assistant General Manager for Administration at the Com- mission’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. His successor will be announced later. Commuter bus service from Santa Fe to Los Blackwell has been associated with the nuclear Alamos has proven popular. Two busses are now weapons program since 1947 and has been man- making the run. In addition, the busses now ager of the Los Alainos Area Ofice since 1!)68. accept passengers other than LASL employees. Phone the travel office for details,

A LASL team has flown to Latin Ametica for a final series of high altitude environmental test$ Charles Metz, retired under the auspices ot the Department ol Trans- former CMU-I group portation’s Climatic Impact Assessment Program leader, died in February. (CIAP) and the AEC’s Airstream Program. Paul Metz came to Los Alamos Guthals, Rill Sedlacek, Phil Moore, all CNC-11, in 1944 to serve on the and Earl Rutledge, 1-1, will participate in studies Manhattan Project and, of the effects of aircraft engine emissions on the except for an absence to stratosphere and other environmental matters. teach at Colorado State University in 1945 and 1946, had been a LASL employee until his retire- ment in 1972. Metz was a Honors: H. C. Donnelly, manager, AEC Albu- Fellow of the American querque Operations Office, has received the AEC’s Institute of Chemists and highest honorary award, the Distinguished Service a member of other professional organizations. Award. Louis Rosen, MP-Division leader, has Other deaths: Robert H. Rates, AO-4 group been named chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee leader; Robert M. Lang, E-5; Orba Booth and on Applied Physics of the American Physical Daniel Reed, both retired and formerly Supply Society. and Property Department.

16 'Io review .fiscal rnc.rftc!rs, William Mc- Corinickt ctiicf of the crieiyy rc:soarr:h rrtrd c~evc?loprrlcntk1runctr of tlrc eiiergy sciencos division (A the Office of Man- ugonioiti arid Rudgct visited LAtiL in Murch, Left to righi, Don Kcrr, assistant for rcmtircli, McCtrrrriick, arid Richad Tnsctiek, associate! director for ro- search.

Cu speak tu inernlms of thc Noriherii NcW Mcxico Ckupicl uf tile Natiorltrl Property Mariagerrruiil Assorkhxi, whose metnbership includes many LASL cmployccs, Kichaicl Gafurian, Icft, deputy director, iridustricil iriater icr I inn ncig e ir icn t, USAr Cu ti ti a c ts Mu nage- tileiit Ilivision, Kirilirnd Ail Force Ykise, visited 10s hlanros iri March. At loft is i)wigh.i Clayton, SP 2, loc.aI cliaptcr pirsident.

To pcrtticipcitc in hrieFings und tour!;, Dep~tySecretary cd tMerise Wiiliarn P. Cleinenis, JY., (leit) visitcd LAX in February. Here lie watches w "live" s~bterrcnc dcmoiistiution with John Rowlt:y, a-73 grciup leader, (center) and Malcolrn R. Currie, director, de- fense reseailh ad engineering, the Departrnwnt of Defenso.

1n discuss researell and educationti1 problem of: cotmicm interest, the Na- vaio Conimunity C:crllcge Board of Re- gents irict hr\atch 5 6 in 10s Ahnos with IAX I eprcswskttives. Here Fred Yourig, 1-4, addresse5 group.

la speak on "Priclo and f'rejuclice in Science" at a collcrquiurn, Sir Wy Zuekerimn visiiecl i AS1 in Fshruary. An (1 ntr torn i:,t whtr gtr incd recoy ir itio n through studies of primate behavior, lord Zuckerman trssisted the British governmcnt during World War It, be- ~ntneits cKricf scientific advisor during the "Ys, and retired in 197 1. Pins Given for 10 & 15 Years Service

Service pins were recently awarded Green, Kenneth, J-10 to over 500 employees. In this issue, Gritzo, Ludwig, TD-7 The Atom salutes those receiving Grofl, Robert, WX-1 awards for 10 and 15 years of ser- 15 Years Harvey, Raymond, SP-2 vice. In the previous issue, The Hasitins, Jack, SD-5 Atom named those honored for 20 Hedstrom, James, QDOT 25 and 30 years of service. Adams, Warren, H-7 Herrera, Edwina, ENG-3 Archuleta, Harold, CMB-11 Hidy, Elaine, H-1 Arnold, Charlie, CMB-11 Noah, Lester, L-3 Atencio, Jose, H-4 Hupke, Lawrence, Q-23 Babich, June, SP-4 Hutchinson, Marie, ENG-1 Bacon, Barbara, C-4 Jeffries, Robert, J-10 Baldock, Della, Q-DO ,Jones,Douglas, SD-5 Bankston, Charles, Q-23 Jones,Lawrence, CMB-7 Bazzell, Dewight, WX-3 Kandarian, Robert, MP-8 Berrett, Melvin, ENG-4 Kelly, Robert, WX-3 Aoone, Helen, SP-DO Kemme, Joseph, Q-25 Borch, Niels, WX-5 Kerns, Clifton, WX-3 Bowman, Allen, CMB-3 Lederer, Harold, MP-1 Boyer, Robert, SD-1 Lindstrom, Ivar, WX-5 Buchanan, Tom,SD-4 Lopez, Abedon, M-6 Bush, Edgar, .Jr., MP-8 McConnell, Paul, ENG-DO Rustos, Lois, H-1 McDonald, ,John,ISD-6 Charmatz, Albeyt, WX-6 Martinez, Clara, SP-3 Collins, Don, J-3 (NTS) Martinez, Julian, ISD-5 Crawford, Theodore, J-8 Martinez, Lonjino, MP-7 Critchfield, Charles, T-9 Martinez, Theresa, A0-4 Dahlby, Joel, CMB-1 Meadows, George, CMB-1 Dickman, Donald, C-3 Melton, George, CMB-11 Diet z, ,Jack,T 0-7 Merts, Athel, T-4 Donaldson, Samuel, ,J-12 Miera, Antonio, J-6 (NTS) Drake, Glessie, H-4 Miller, Leston, J-16 Libert, William, ISD-5 Miller, Lonnie, SD-1 Eilers, Donald, J-15 Miller, Warner, M-3 Emery, Charles, CMB-11 Morgan, James, CMB-5 Ericlrson, George, L-1 Naffziger, Richard, WX-3 Farmer, 0 tis, T-3 Newton, Eulalia, ISD-5 Feber, Roy, Jr., CMB-8 Oliphant, Thomas, Jr., Q-7 Field, William, ADWP-1 Ortichy, Vincent, WX-3 Flynn, Edward, P-DOR Orton, Warren, WX-1 Foglesong, .Jake, CMB-7 Payne, James, P-4 Folkner, Charles, C-DO Powell, Anne, AO-2 Freed, Arthur, ISD-4 Price, Barbara, SP-3 Fries, Ralph, L-4 Ray, Dwight, M-2 Godfrey, Lois, ZSD-4 Rhodes, Sally, ENG-2 Gomez, Hilario, CNC-4 Rich, Walter, ADWP-2 Gonzales, Jose, H-1 Richman, Chaim, H-4

18

The Iron Dogs of Anaktuvuk Pass (Before joining Los Alamos Sci- between lichen grazing grounds. entific Laboratory in June, 1973, as (The author‘s research has been Group H-8 ecology section leader, accompanied by a growing compre- the author conducted extensive in- hension of the life style of a people ziestigations of strontium-90 and whose language he spoke and cesium-I37 fallout in Alaska for among whom he formed many close Hanford Laboratories from 1959 friendships. His observations of the through 1972. He returned to Alas- Article and Photos radical societal changes wrought ka in 1973 and will return again virtually overnight by the seeming- by this summer to continue this AEC ly beneficial introduction of white Wayne C. Hanson program. man’s ways and technology into a (Much of his research into north- primitive subsistence hunting cul- ern Alaskan ecosystems took place ture comprise valuable scientific at a remote Eskimo village in the spinofl. Brooks Range of the Arctic Moun- (The following excerpt from the tains 240 kilometers south of the author‘s Ph.D. dissertation at Colo- Arctic Ocean. This village of 140 rado State Uniuersity, where he was habitants is the home of the nuna- until recently a faculty member, miut, or “people of the land,” a describes the traumatic series of formerly nomadic Eskimo ethnic events that followed the introduc- group which subsisted principally tion of one of the white man’s most on inland caribou herds migrating recent mechanical innovations into seasonally through Anaktuvuk Pass the nunamiut culture.)

20

the doomed the doomsday machine

to 4 men, who entered into friendly coming winter fuel supply, the cir- Bureau of Land Management for- competition in trapping and gamb- cadian rhythms were purposely est-fire control crews, and several ling. Many of the young bachelors turned topsy-turvy by all-night card men served 10 days at $68/day. spoke glowingly of the good times games, and the usual novelty of Many men used these funds for had in trapping camps and were visiting scientists provided diver- down payments on snowmobiles, eager to return after a short visit to sions. and from then on the machines be- the village for the holidays. This The specter of a dwindling fuel came the central theme in Anaktu- practice maintained the technology supply was in the background of vuk Pass culture. All efforts were of trapping, hunting, dogteaming, people’s thoughts, however. One made by the people to possess an and subsisting in a hard environ- had only to survey the diminished “iron dog” at any cost, and au- ment that was the hallmark of the willow growth in the valley to ap- tonomy oE the families became inland people and which earned the preciate the problem; however, more pronounced. respect of most other cultures. there were persistent stories of a That same summer the village The people were fully occupied nearby supply of oil shale and coal was given a crawler-type tractor by by the requirements of their cul- that would be used when the wil- a governmental agency for the pur- ture, which was ideally suited to lows were exhausted. pose of hauling oil shale or other their environment. Three or four fuel. The machine became a center stores were usually operated by old- Dog Days End of controversy over its uses, and this er men, several people made modest It was during this relatively calm was heightened when the coal and amounts of money from caribou period that the first snowmobile ap- oil shale resource was evaluated by skin masks, trapping and bounties peared, during January, 1964. It ap- a geologist and found to be in neg- provided seasonal income, and vil- pealed to the curiosity of the Eski- ligible supply and of extremely lage life in the early 1960’s was mos, and its performance and pres- poor quality. relatively calm. tige were magnified by the initial A proposal by governmental Having survived the winter, the success of the machine in hunting agencies to have Anaktuvuk Pass people enjoyed the summer as a caribou and running traplines and hunters supply caribou meat at a time of relative ease. The perma- by its apparent ease of maintenance. fair price to Operation Headstart frost cellars were usually filled with The first 2 winters proved to be a (education of pre-school children) caribou meat stored from the spring period of observation and trial of programs at several other villages in kill, families moved from sod the snowmobile for a majority of northern Alaska failed; the arrange- houses into canvas tents, and short Anaktuvuk Pass people, for most of ments for proper inspection, hand- hunting trips were occasionally them could not afford the machines. ling, and transportation of the meat taken with dogs fitted with packs. During the summer of 1966, the required unity of action by the Women spent several days chop- first opportunities occurred for the Anaktuvuk Pass Village Council ping and drying willows for the nunamiut men to serve on the that was unattainable.

22 An Arctic Fuel Ctisis tlcci cilsctl icyiiircrncnt for caiibou T11o Eric tiori within tlic village i~ie~itloi (log food, and cxteiidcd was uudoubretlly abeltcd by the Iiunting ;iiid ti apping cxpcclitions 1-riticxl fuel situation that was by to tlistaiit valleys wcrc curtailed by 11ic~ii iriiavoit1;iblc; ~lic.last ol tlic the iiic I casrcl inohility piovidcd by willoiv supply was in :,iglit and I lie snowmobile arid the introduc I ~,(,ittcwdw[itc(-, up to 35 ltrri away tioil oi ivwkly movies by tlic school wcrc Iwing wught out. AI tcriiativt’s teachers. Men were relurtiint to w(~cIring (liwiisscd, arnring which speiicl more tiinc outside the village a sup,gestion Irom a Ihrrow tlim absolut cly nctcssary, and wel- tislci tlint tlic nzinanrizit inovc F~icriiid loocl stamp prograins cn- to iiii ab;i iicloiicd oil cuploration ( ouragetl increasing dcprndencc (ii~iipsomr. I%!;k~ii north oi AnaIC- upon govci nmcntal progi dmthat 1I I v Ilk l’ilsi. eiotlctl tlrc statur and rolcs of both ‘llii5 was wid rrpon by wvcriil n1alcs and iernales. i>coplc as the logical solution and in 1 licrc has been an accelerating the loll ow in^; nioiitlir ol tonfusion losy 01 silua tions tor “a( hicving” over what tlic vilkigc arid various and for vitlitlating roles in the govu iinicii tnl ;igencics could do, the nirntini?zrf culture wlirrc age, sex, village brcarie polarircd into kinship, dnd pcriormance lormcr- “niovci s’’ arid “noiirnovers.” 7’hc ly wiglid heavily. tlivi5ion of tlic pcoplc ’cva5 gcner- .illy .iloiig Iwitl iintl kin5hip boun- Cultural Devastation daries, brit III ii Icw cascs pitted sib- 1 Iistorically, Kskimo bands were liiigs ;igaiiisi ciicli other. ’I’lic criqis lcd by a tompetciit hunter or w;ts 1 c~olvctlby wvmil govet nincrit 11 n?PO 12/I. Sc t tlc me ii t at Rnaktuvuk ‘igcnt ics tliiit imported stoves, iricl Pass committed thc pcoplc to great- oil, and biiiltling inaterids for er acculiura lion and replaced the 5iri;tll li rii~i( liousr\ pooily ;id:iptccl Iln?eflltli with tlic Village Council, to tlir rigorotis arctic (limatr. wlicre thtl weak a5 wcll as the strong 1 11C 1 OIL‘ 01 TVOKllCll i14 1LlC’l gatll- had a voice. As dcmocratic 21s this cicrs was abolishcd. As tlir mow- may bc and as well as it may scrvc iriobylcs inc tcii~cd,so the ,ole of tlic whitc man, it has not scrvcd istodiari ol the (logs the nu?/rrrnzzit (ause its wcll ;I$ it cx need for the Iiuritw iiiiglit bc prc5urncd by tlic casual iolc lor irim was rctluccd by the observer.

23 In their greatest test, during the bitter debate over moving the vil- lage, the time-honored concepts of band, kinship, matrilineal loyalty, and patriarchal dominance reap- peared; however, their effectiveness had been diminished and conipro- mised by amalgamation with the white man’s institutions. Self-dc- termination was lost in a welter of bureaucratic tangles, demeaning as- 30 sistance in impractical areas, and the urgency of the situation. I! I> , Since that time the village has Culled from the March and April, 1964, files changed more rapidly, with com- of the Atom and the Los Alamos Monitor by Robert Y. Porton mensurate loss of the older nuna- Anniversary miut cultural ideals. As Margaret Director N. E. Bradbury and several LASL staff members were Lantis (1967) expressed it: among the delegates from nearly 200 academic institutions in the “Eskimos are t?ying just as United States and several foreign countries who attended the recent hard today to adapt as they ceremonies of the University of New Mexico’s 75th anniversary. did 500 to 900 years ago; the Other staffers participating were and Bob Watt. dificulty is that they are adapting not to the Arctic but Toppers win state crown to a Temperate Zone way of The Los Alamos High School Hilltoppers played with inspired lining.” perfection to win the first state basketball championship in the It is not only the mere act of history of the school this weekend in Albuquerque. The Toppers adapting to another culture but the and the Horsemen from St. Michael’s of Santa Fe battled for the rapidity with which it has been championship. The Hilltoppers won 79-65. necessary that has culturally devas- retires tated the native populations. LAMPRE In the case of the nunamiut, they LAMPRE, the world’s first molten , is have experienced in approximately in semi-retirement. LAMPRE helped evaluate the use of metallic 20 years the degree of cultural plutonium fuel in the liquid rather than the solid state and was change that most Americans achieve part of the Laboratory’s program to develop and test fast breeder in many more years. Contact agents concepts. LAMPRE will now be placed on standby. of the white man culture had appre- Science on display ciable influence upon a people whose decision-making was based LASL was a major exhibitor at the Southwestern Science Exposi- upon informal consultation with tion that was held last week in El Paso, Texas. Some 2,300 high persons who led by popular ac- school science students from the Southwest and Old Mexico attended claim based upon capability as a a series of science seminars held in conjunction with the public hunter and knowledge of the land. show, which drew more than 50,000 viewers. Like the natural Arctic ecosystems Search and rescue of which they were so integrally a The Los Alamos County Civil Defense organization has been part, the nunamiut society has been sensitive to callous exploitation. designated by the County Commissioners as the official body respons- The immediate and impressive im- ible for all search and rescue work in the county. The AEC has pact of white-man culture upon authorized LASL, Zia, and all other agencies under its jurisdiction Itheir carefully balanced societal to provide services, equipment, material, and manpower for missions. systems presaged destruction in en- Oh, say can you see vironmental areas and precipitated Local policemen and school officials are still wondering how a problems in several contexts. large garbage can was put on top of the tall flag pole on the high It is ironic that the nunamiut so- ciety, so admirably adapted to its school lawn Friday night. A Zia Company crew used a “cherry picker” surroundings, should succumb to boom truck with a bucket on the end of a lift arm to take the refuse the culture of the white man, whom container down. Hundreds of delegates attending the Southwest the Eskimo considered to be a child District Key Club convention plus many local residents gathered to in the Arctic. @+ see the sight Saturday morning.

24 ISD-7 photographers went into the Bob Martin found beauty in the I'rofessional Photographer!; of New miniscule, eniployed ptiotomucrog- Ivkxico show in Albuquc:rqi.re last rcrphy to produce "Zinc Flow," an ex- incmth and c.?mt:tqet:l- with horlors. treme enl(irgement thot won first place J. AA. "Mitzi" IJlibcirri won first place irn color- abstractions in ihr: black crnd white commercial Arid Henry Ortega reduced gray Wi category with his "H(mds," shown tones to stark black and whites in his ilbovc.!. In thf: photo, Don Kelly, CMB- "Pole Vcii~lter," shown on the back 11, is preparing oxides in cr glove bcix cover, to win second place in black irrt C)P.-West. Another print hy IJIibarri, and white abstract photography. "Ch,3inber," took second place in the All in CIII, a sutisfying day for LASL !iatnmecategory. photograph e rs. MClTZ HEhRY TH(1JMAS 3187 WCIODLAND RD LllS ALAlJaS 0 75 44