We Almost Lost Detroit; Nonfiction Ballantine 25266

New York: Ballantine Books, 1975. First Ballantine Books Edition [stated]. Presumed first printing thus. Mass market paperback. xii, 288, [4] pages. Bibliography. Index. Bookseller stamp inside back cover. Some wear and soiling to cover. Several corners creased. John Grant Fuller, Jr. (November 30, 1913 – November 7, 1990) was a New England-based American author of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, mainly focusing on the theme of extraterrestrials and the supernatural. For many years he wrote a regular column for the Saturday Review magazine, called "Trade Winds". His books include We Almost Lost Detroit, The Ghost of Flight 401, Incident at Exeter, and The Interrupted Journey. His book We Almost Lost Detroit (1975) deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the No Nukes live album recorded by the Musicians United for Safe Energy. The author uses the 1966 accident inside the Enrico Fermi atomic reactor near Detroit as a vehicle to discuss the significance of the entire nuclear power industry, both in the United States and abroad. Presents a history of Fermi 1, America's first commercial breeder reactor, with emphasis on the 1966 partial nuclear meltdown. It was republished in 1984. It took four years for the reactor to be repaired, and then performance was poor. In 1972, the reactor core was dismantled and the reactor was decommissioned. America's first effort at operating a full-scale breeder had failed. The 69 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor Fermi 1 unit was under construction and development at the site from 1956 to 1963. Initial criticality was achieved on August 23, 1963. On October 5, 1966 Fermi 1 suffered a partial fuel meltdown. Two of the 92 fuel assemblies were partially damaged. According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there was no abnormal radioactivity released to the environment. Fermi 1 was a liquid metal (sodium) cooled fast breeder reactor design. It was capable of producing 200 megawatts thermal (MWt) power or 69 MW electrical power with 26% enriched metallic uranium fuel. The enriched uranium section of the reactor (core) was a 30 inch in diameter cylinder by 30 inches high and contained 92 fuel assemblies. The core was surrounded by 548 additional assemblies containing depleted uranium. These assemblies were about 2.5 inches square by about 8 feet tall. Only the core section contained the enriched uranium while depleted uranium was placed above and below within the assemblies. The core also contained 2 control rods and 8 safety rods. The main cause of the partial meltdown was due to a temperature increase caused by a blockage in one of the lower support plate orifices that allowed the flow of liquid sodium into the reactor. The blockage caused an insufficient amount of coolant to enter the fuel assembly; this was not noticed by the operators until the core temperature alarms sounded. Several fuel rod subassemblies reached high temperatures of around 700 °F (370 °C) (with an expected range near 580 °F, 304 °C), causing them to melt. Following an extended shutdown that involved fuel replacement, repairs to vessel, and cleanup, Fermi 1 restarted in July 1970 and reached full power. Due of lack of funds and aging equipment it was finally shut down permanently on November 27, 1972, and was officially decommissioned December 31, 1975 under the definition of the Atomic Energy Commission. A number of accounts of the accident are available. One book is Fermi-1 New Age for Nuclear Power and published by the American Nuclear Society in 1979. A book, We Almost Lost Detroit, was written by local Detroit newsman John Grant Fuller (subtitled "This Is Not A Novel" to point out that it was not a work of fiction). Condition: Good.

Keywords: Nuclear Accidents, Atomic Energy Commission, Nuclear Safety, Control Rods, Coolant, Walker Cisler, Fermi Reactor, Nuclear Fission, Nuclear Reactors, Clifford Beck, Breeder Reactor, Fuel Rods, Walter McCarthy, Radiation, Reactor Safety, WASH-740

ISBN: 0345252667

[Book #84088]

Price: $55.00

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