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DIAGRAM 1 -- SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF HELIUM ATOM CANADA'S ATOMIC ENERGY PROGRAM Uranium-235 Key Material In Process Of Chain Reaction By M. McINTYRE HOOD (This is the second of a series of articles on Canada's atomic energy written as the result of a be { ht = fil - it E33 g E 3 5 3 g giv lead to of what will come later. not pretend to be in any atomic energy expert. We in the slightest 1 scientist. formation which we received while Chalk River, we will try to re- duce to everyday language some of the scientific jargon with which the subject is surrounded. THE STARTING POINT The starting point of the whole subject is the atom, that most min- ute of all bodies. It cannot be seen eye. So minute is it : g g Esa ke 2 little as one twenty-eight hundred . millionth of an ounce, and are tim- ing events which last for one ten tho! d onth of a second. The off in atomic fission ssimally tiny that it that in a second time 60 million million neutrons are passed through each square centimetre in the NRX reactor at Chalk River. Thus the scientists are dealing with unseen forces of tremendous power. STRUCTURE IS COMPLEXX Let us try to consider for a mom- ent the atom. The structure of the atom, tiny as it may be, is ex- tremely complex. Perhaps it 'can be explained by comparing it with the solar system. The planets re- volve around the sun in well-defin- ed orbits. Similarly, '"'electrons" re- volve around the core or 'nucleus' of the atom in orbits of shells. For purposes of illustration, sup- se the nucleus is shaped like a Pall, It occupies a very small part of the total volume of the atom. If an atom of the gas '"'argon' were magnified until its nucleus were a foot in diameter, the outermost planetary electron would be about six miles from the nucleus or core. The nucleus of an atom consists chiefly of neutrons and protons. The neturons are neutral particles, that is, they are neither positive nor negative, while the protons are positively charged. The nucleus, 'therefore, is positive. But the atom as a whole is neutral, for there are as many electrons, which are nega- tive, surrounding the nucleus as there are protons, negative, within be the nucleus. The schematic diagram, No. 1 shown on this page shows a helium atom In the core, or nucleus, are two protons and two neutrons. Trav- * elling in an orbit or shell around the nucleus are two' electrons. As indicated below the sketch, if electrons are stripped off the nuc- leus of the helium atom, an alpha particle is thrown off. A high speed electron thrown off, and not part of an atomic structure, is known as a beta particle, or beta minus. There is also a particle similar to an electron, but positively charged, known as a positron, This is also known as a beta particle, but is beta plus. A gamma ray is a highly pene- . trating' electromagnetie radiation similar in form to light waves, but | atoms. i | | | Gamma rays are more penetrating | than X-rays. Here are some interesting facts. Alpha fays can be. stop d by a whiting paper, rays can be sto) y a sheet of alum- inum one-third of an inch thick. Gamma rays are highly penetrat- and thick lead bricks or a con- si erable Dhickhest of concrete are requir $to) em. NATURE OF URANIUM Some elements found in nature, such as uranium and thorium, are naturally radioactive. That is, they are continuously throwing off alpha rays, beta rays or gamme rays, or a combination of these. The dif- ferent forms of any particular form are known as isotopes. But it should be clear that an isotope is not ne- cessarily radioactive. There are three isoptopes of uradium found in nature, and all of these are radi- oactive. They are Uranium-234, Ur- anium 235 and Uranium 238. The numbers indicate that they have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei. But they have the same number of protons, 92. U-234 has 142 neutrons, U-233 had 143 and U-238 has 146. Therefore they have different atomic weights, but similar chemical properties. KEY TO THE PROCESS These three isotopes of uranium are the key to the atom-splitting process which constitutes nuclear reaction. Uranium-234 constitutes only a trace in the natural uranium. Uranium-235 is the only part of the of total natural uranium which is of self-fissionable, that is it can be split by neutron bombardment. But it comprises only 0-7 per cent of the whole of the natural uranium. Ur- anium-238 makes up 99.3 per cent of the whole. The U-238, however, is not fissionable. But when the neutrons which are released by by the bombardment of U-235 strike the U-238, it results in the creation of neptunium, or U-239, and this in turn decays into plutonium. And plutonium is a fissionable element just like U-235. This is important, because of the quantity of fission- able plutonium which can be pro- duced from U-238. This plutonium was the fissionable element which was used in the manufacture of the first atomic bombs. WHAT FISSION MEANS The words fissiona and fission- able appear a great deal in these articles, What do they mean? It would take far too much space to go into the long history of man's experimental efforts to split the atom, These have occupied a long period of years. But on January 6, 1939, the German scientists, Hahn and Strassmann announced, al- though with some hesitation, that they had observed what has come to be known as "fission". They had observed atoms splitting into two | fragments of similar size, and with | e slitting there was the release a tremendous amount of energy. Studies revealed that it was the | * isotope Uranium-285, which makes up only 1-140th of any given quant- | ity of uranium, that underwent fis- | sion when uranium is bombarded | is | by. slow neutrons. the | There was an immediate investi- | gation to find out if additional neu rons were released during the pro-| cess. If they were, then there was a | possibility that when a neutron | split a U:235 atom, the additional neutrons were released when an atom undergoes fission, or is split. SLOWING DOWN NEUTRONS However, when these neutrons are released they are travelling at | about 10,000 miles per second. That | is too fast to have the effect ol splitting other Uranium - 25 The neutrons therefore | having a much shorter wave length. have to be slowed down .to what / 65: DIAGRAM 2 | MOVIE COLUMN is known as '"'thermal" speed. This | By BOB THOMAS ... .. is slightly over a mile a second.| HOLLYWOOD (AP)--The fabul- To slow down the netrons, 'they |ous Rin Tin Tin is ready to romp to have to be allowed to strike atorhic | what may be his greatest fame--as guslei with mass to that | a television star. of the neutron. The situation might be compared | Rin Tin Tin To TV Screens Next Fall -- SHOWING FISSION CHAIN REACTION Hit on the picture at $25 a day, but ended up staying six weeks. SAVED WARNER BROS. "That gave me an idea of mak- ing a picture with Rin Tin Tin. Screen Gems is preparing a TV|1 went to Warner Brothers and film series called fo, Bo they liked the idea. But by the time to the action of a billiard ball. ¥| of Rin Tin Tin," and it will prob- We, spent $35,000, they ran out of | the ball strikes something extreme- | ably be hitting the home en in | money. I managed to borrow some! ly heavy, such as a lead ball, it re- | the fall. When it does, a ne . | bounds at high speed, If the billiard | ation will be watching the heroics ball strikes something much light-| of a star that thrilled their parents | 900 er than itself, such as a ping pong | ball, it likewise loses little of | 2 Souple of desades 289. speed. But when a billiard ball | Well t th strikes another billiard ball--one | The Me pene Jame sia exactly. hd smiligf weight it loses much of | whose great-grandfather drew mil | There are two. elements which! lions of dollars to theatres in the | are capabl : | silent days. I learned the story of pable of slowing down the | the famed German shepherd f neutrons that can be obtained in|; oh an Shepherd from suitable form. They are carbon and |S owner, Lee Duncan. | deuterium or heavy hydrogen.| Duncan acquired a dog in France | Graphite contains carbon and heavy | in the First World War, and called | water contains deuterium. Water | it Rin Tin Tin, "after the little is a combination of oxygen and ord- | 8ood-luck dolls the French women | inary hydrogen, and heavy water | made and sold for charity." I oy Sombiation of oxygen and| After he came home, a friend, e; nycrogen. William Desmond, was making CANADA'S TASK a movie at Universal. "They need- As heavy water was scarce dur-| ed a dog and he suggested mine. ing the early years of atomic bomb | we were to stay only a few days development, and very pure graph- ite could be made relatively easily, graphite was chosen as the moder- ating element for the first atomic reactors, or piles, to slow down the neutrons, or moderate them. Can- ada was given the task of experi- menting with heavy water as a moderating element, and this is what is used in the Chalk River plant. The results of this choice of a moderator have made it pos- sible for Canada to build a reactor which has the highest density of | British-built oil refinery at Aba-| neutrons of any known natural ur-| gan which Mohammed Mossa- | anium reactor, This has been of | degh nationalized in 1951, may not great importantce in its production | resume full-scale production. A of commercial isotopes and other by-products. The explanatory diggram Which appears wit s article as dia- ram No. 2 shows what happens. |have become out of date. | | By VINCENT BUIST t the top, the U-235 is shown bom-| Although Abadan's output fell to barded by a stay of neutron. It im- | 5 trickle after the Iranians took mediately splits, throwing off fis-|over from British engineers in sion fragments, and also neutrons | 1951, the government here had travelling at a fast speed. These | hoped for a return to peak output neutrons strike the moderator, and | ynder an oil settlement with the are Loved down. Wen go oh ja west. stroke another U- atom, and sp! OIL ABUNDANT ti turn, 20d the ha i fea eto But the new fashion in the oil fending its field with every fis.| World is to disperse refining capa- city in "safe" places next door to sion. Some of the travelling neu-|€ trons, it will be observed, strike the | industrial sites and close behind | the bases of armies, navies and | U-238, which is not fissionable, but $ in the process it is changed to the | air fleets which, without oil are fissionable material, plutonium. impotent. Crude oil resources are abund- lace in the NRX reactor at Chalk |ant in widely spaced world re- iver and which produces trem-|gions. At present there is more endous energy, or heat as it goes |than the world could use for more than 200 years. Almost every year {new fields are discovered. Crude | oil presents no problem. The | part in the development of the at- bottleneck is the refining process. | omic energy program, leading up| The Second World War showed | to the building of the NRX reactor | up Britain's and Europe's chronic at Chalk River. lack of refineries. While armies and air fleets thirsted for millions | of gallons daily on the battlefields, | tankers had to cross the Atlantic bringing high octane aviation and motor fuel from United States re- fineries. Abadan, while That is the process which takes on. In the next article we will give something of the story of Canada's MILITARY MUSEUM CALGARY (CP) -- A new regi- mental museum was opened here by the Princess Patricias Cana- ian Light Infantry. Its prize col ction includes the shrapnel ocked original colors presented in 1914. and a dollar bill dated March 17. 1917, bearing. the signature of Lady Patricia Ramsay, honorary commander-in-chief. enemy forces RE-UNIN WIT HREGIMENT CALGARY (CP)--Lt.-Col. Robert J Graham, 41, has arrived to take command of Lord Strathcona' Horse (armored). For Lt.-Col. Graham it was a re-union with a regiment he first joined as a lieu- tenant in Italy in 1944. He is a| native of Belleville, nf. AID FR PILT MEDICINE HAT, Alta. (CP)-- Fred Ronan stopped his truck to give the right-of-way to a low-fly- ing airplane. Ronan signalled with his spotlight to the pilot whose plane was low on fuel, and the| Marble has 'been quarried' in plane made an emergency landing every province except Prince Ed- on the highway. ward Island, : more. The picture ("Where the North Begins" in 1923) cost $133,- nd crossed $352,000. Rin Tin aved the Warner Brothers fr bankruptey.V p 0 he talented dog was a star for a week. The original Rin Tin Tin lived to 14 years, still doing his own vigorous stunts to the end. A son took over. In the early '30s, the Hollywood life and retired to a ranch on his earnings. During the war he was busy training dogs for the army. In 1947 he brought out "The Return of Rin Tin Tin" starring the third in the line, Now No. 4, who is three years old, is being groomed as a TV star. And Duncan is bringing along a bright puppy of three months as a possible successor. Big Refineries Out Of Date menaced the southern sea routes, TEHRAN (Reuters)--The giant| was of little use to Europe. The big oil compznies learned a lesson then. After the war they began building many more, but smaller refineries in strategically International oil company rep-|and politically safer areas. If one resentatives have warned the gov-|is lost, the others can make good ernment that such big refineries | the gap. THEATRE GUIDE Brock, Whitby -- "Fort Apache" and added features. Thurs. and Fri. shows 7 and 9 p.m. Sat. matinee 1.30 p.m. Sat. night 6 pm. Drive-In -- Starting at Dusk. "At Sword's Point", "Hellgate'. Last' Comrlete Show at 10.50 p.m. Regent -- 'The Sword And The Rose" in Technicolor, shown daily at 2.15, 4.40, 7.05, 9.25. Last Complete Show at 8.40 p.m. "Calamity Jane" (Technicolor), 12.30, 3.30, 6.50 and 10.15 p.m. "Paratrooper" (Technicolor) 2.00, 5.20 and 8.45 p.m. Last Complete Show at 8.40 p.m. Plaza -- "'Taza, Son of Cochise", 1.30, 3.36, 5.32, 7.38, 9.47 Last Complete Show 9.02 p.m. Biltmore . LOST YOUR FRIENDS ? YOU CAN SEE THEM TONIGHT at TEEN TOWN C.R.A. 8 'Til 12 years, earning as much as $3,000 {Duncan decided he had enough of | | CIVIL DEFENCE SQUADS LONDON (Reuters) -- Britain Wednesday announced a long range plan to create a reserve of civil defence "flying squads." The blueprint is the government's latest move in a running battle against indifference which began when the war-blitzed city of Coventry last April jettisoned civil defence plans on the grounds that atomic and hydrogen weapons make such plans useless. 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