Atomics International engineers working on test and development work on reactor components during the construction of the Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California, United States. A scientist studies the weight of a metal tube. Scientists study mockup fuel elements irradiated in the thermal column of a research reactor. A hydraulic loop was used to simulate sodium flow conditions on top of a tower. Scientist inserts a hydraulic loop. Sodium flowing as seen from the hydraulic loop experiment. Full scale mockup of the fuel handling system was checked mechanically. A prototype coolant pump being studied using a temperature sodium loop. A scientist pushes some buttons of a machine. Machine gauge measures temperature in Fahrenheit. A scientist in protective suit turns a wheel. Scientists lower heavy tube.
Scenes in Brandeis California at the Sodium Reactor Experiment site. A man removes and washes solid uranium slugs contained in rod clusters. The slugs are put on paper towel to dry. Men inspect the rod clusters. A man inserts the slug into the rod. A thin-walled stainless steel jacket encloses the slugs. Chemical compounds travel through glass tubes. Chemicals pour into a retort flask. Sodium potassium medium is used for heat transfer from the fuel slug to the jacket. The bonding material were admitted under an inert atmosphere. A jacket is sealed on each end by a welded stainless-steel plug. Scientists employ ultrasonic inspection. A scientist takes off welding mask. The six outside rods are spirally wrapped with stainless steel wire to prevent the fuel rods from touching each other or the coolant channel. Scientist pulls out a rod wrapped in stainless steel wire. The rod is inserted into the sodium cooler. A man in white inspects the moderator assemblies. Reactor grade graphite is machined into a hexagonal shape before being sealed into the zirconium cans. A machine presses panels of zirconium before the panels are machined into the specified width. A Heliarc welding is used for longitudinal welding. Scientists pull out the filler rod so the seams could fuse together. They carry the rod away. Scientist leak test a moderator can. A scientist inserts a well into an x-ray to check for porosity and contamination. They insert three graphite blocks to comprise the moderator element for each can. Short sections of moderator cans are tested for durability of welded head assemblies. Scientists conduct further safety tests to ensure the durability of the Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) nuclear power plant. A scientist uses a wrench. A stainless-steel grid plate near the bottom of the core tank supports and locates the moderator assemblies. The holes space the lower ends of the moderator cans and fuel elements on a triangular lattice. Stainless steel core tank contains the core. A welder welding bottom head. The side of the tank with 3 ring section. The animation shows the layers of the core tank of the Sodium Reactor Experiment. Casting of low carbon steel to form seven rings that comprise the thermal shield. View of the thermal shield of the sodium reactor core tank. Animation shows the rotatable top shield on top of the core tank. Man installs moderator assembly on top of the rotatable top shield. The top shield is filled with dense concrete. Man with sodium pump or modified hot oil pumps. The pump rotates.
The Santa Susana Mountains in Southern California. Bulldozers clear trees in the Santa Susana Mountains. Explosives blasting cleared land to build the foundation of the planned Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. Construction workers build the core cavity liner of the Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant. The core cavity liner of the sodium reactor before concrete is poured to make the foundation. A man welds steel pipes in the outer surface of the core cavity. A large circular hole for the inlet and outlet piping. Workers set up basic structures after the core cavity liner and foundation are built. Some workers are digging near concrete columns. A worker pushes a wheelbarrow. Concrete poured into wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow pours concrete into a backhoe. Workers pour wet concrete into the foundation. Animation depicts four concentric rings installed at the bottom of the cavity liner. A ladder inside a tank. Workers install blocks of thermal insulation materials. A crane carries the outer tank made from low-alloy steel. Workers carefully lower the outer tank into the core cavity. Stacked thermal shield rings at the construction site. The “Pacific” crane lowers a thermal shield ring into place. The crane brings the stainless-steel core tank. The crane lowers the core tank into the core cavity. Stainless steel bellows is put into place to seal the core tank and outer tank. Animation shows how bellows maintain the sodium vapors within the core area. Workers in white protective uniforms install the moderator and reflector units under conditions of extreme cleanliness. A worker uses a high-capacity vacuum cleaner to clean parts. The workers proceed to install the 75-ton top shield. Scientists monitor the pumps that monitor the rate of coolant flow in the sodium loops. A scientist inspects the fuel elements installed in the core. Scientists working at a control room of the Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant. They monitor the reactor stability. Timer connected to the control rod. Various meters measuring various powers such as electrical, thermal, and main primary sodium flow, steam flow rate. A Honeywell meter measuring the reactor inlet temperature. A sodium inlet temperature meter. A scientist measures shielding effectiveness during power runs. The scientist inspects shield blocks above the radioactive coolant galleries and over the reactor core.
Scientists working in control room of Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Southern California. Fuel elements made from special uranium alloys, thorium uranium, and high temperature ceramic fuels. A scientist in white protective suit rides and operates bridge train. Fuel elements are removed from the core by the shielded fuel handling cast. The operator positions the cast in the general area over the used fuel element to be withdrawn. An indexing mechanism guides the cast to a preset position. Pneumatic mechanism forces an LED radiation shield down onto the surface of the loading face. Animation depicts a pickup device within the cast is lowered to engage the shielding plug of the used fuel element, with the shielding plug hanger rod and radioactive fuel element as one complete unit. Revolving fuel support plate at the top of the cast rotates to position new fuel element over empty fuel channel. The new fuel element is lowered into the core and shielding mechanisms are raised. The used fuel element is taken to underground cleaning cells where it is washed in a water bath. The fuel element is transferred into a storage cell after cleaning to permit reprocessing. Scientists use the hot cells for disassembly and study of experimental fuel elements. A scientist uses robotic arms to handle irradiated material in another room.
The Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Southern California. Air blast heat exchangers where hot sodium is cooled at the power plant. Tubes located in the air stream of electrically driven fans in the facility. Tubes where sodium flows directly to the steam plant through the secondary non-radioactive sodium loop. Loops and tubes of the Sodium Reactor Experiment plant. The Southern California Edison Company run electrical generating plant used in conjunction with the Sodium Reactor Experiment. A steam generator inside the electrical generating plant. A steam condenser. Water pipes supplying the steam condenser with water. Induced draught cooling water tower. Conventional turbine generator feeding a step-up transformer. A generator in power plant. Powerlines in Southern California. The Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant with the Santa Susana Mountains in the background. Scientists working at a control center. Aerial view of the the Sodium Reactor Experiment nuclear power plant.
Early historic moving images show crowds gathered to watch the arrival of a Southern Pacific Railroad Co. Sunset Limited train in Southern United States. They wave as the railroad train moves past them. Another train passes in the opposite direction.
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