LEADER 04394oam 22006374a 450 001 9910524706603321 005 20230621135713.0 010 $a0-8018-5207-2 010 $a1-4214-3590-X 035 $a(CKB)4100000010460972 035 $a(OCoLC)1128083708 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse78513 035 $a(oapen)https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/88973 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC29139169 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL29139169 035 $a(oapen)doab88973 035 $a(OCoLC)1229503600 035 $a(EXLCZ)994100000010460972 100 $a20100407d1996 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|||||||nn|n 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aSupplying the Nuclear Arsenal$eAmerican Production Reactors, 1942-1992 /$fRodney P. Carlisle, with Joan M. Zenzen 205 $a1st ed. 210 $cJohns Hopkins University Press$d2020 210 1$aBaltimore, MD :$cJohns Hopkins University Press,$d1996. 210 4$d©1996. 215 $a1 online resource (1 online resource (xiv, 275 pages) :)$cillustrations 311 08$a1-4214-3591-8 311 08$a1-4214-3592-6 327 $aCover -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables and Figures -- Preface -- List of Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Introduction -- 1. Inventing Atomic Piles -- 2. Building Reactors at Hanford -- 3. Contracting Atoms -- 4. Flexible Design at Savannah River -- 5. The Arms Race Arsenal -- 6. Designing a Reactor for Peace and War -- 7. Surviving Détente -- 8. Lobbying for Nuclear Pork -- 9. Managing Nuclear Options -- Conclusion: Supplying the Cold War Arsenal -- Appendix: Production Reactor Families -- Notes -- Bibliographic Essay -- Index. 330 $aOriginally published in 1996. Although the history of commercial-power nuclear reactors is well known, the story of the government reactors that produce weapons-grade plutonium and tritium has been shrouded in secrecy. Supplying the Nuclear Arsenal looks at the origin and development of these production reactors, Rodney Carlisle and Joan Zenzen describe a fifty-year government effort no less complex, expensive, and technologically demanding than the Polaris or Apollo programs?yet one about which most Americans know virtually nothing. Carlisle and Zenzen describe the evolution of the early reactors, the atomic weapons establishment that surrounded them, and the sometimes bitter struggles between business and political constituencies for their share of "nuclear pork." They show how, since the 1980s, aging production reactors have increased the risk of radioactive contamination of the atmosphere and water table. And they describe how the Department of Energy mounted a massive effort to find the right design for a new generation of reactors, only to abandon that effort with the end of the Cold War. Today, all American production reactors remain closed.Due to short half-life, the nation's supply of tritium, crucial to modern weapons, is rapidly dwindling. As countries like Iraq and North Korea threaten to join the nuclear club, the authors contend, the United States needs to revitalize tritium production capacity in order to maintain a viable nuclear deterrent. Meanwhile, as slowly decaying artifacts of the Cold War, the closed production reactors at Hanford, Washington, and Savannah River, South Carolina, loom ominously over the landscape. 606 $aNuclear reactors$2fast$3(OCoLC)fst01040734 606 $aNuclear fuels$xBreeding$2fast$3(OCoLC)fst01040211 606 $aNuclear fuels$xBreeding$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aNuclear weapons$xEquipment and supplies$xGovernment policy$zUnited States 606 $aNuclear reactors$zUnited States$xHistory 607 $aUnited States$2fast 608 $aHistory. 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aNuclear reactors. 615 0$aNuclear fuels$xBreeding. 615 0$aNuclear fuels$xBreeding$xHistory. 615 0$aNuclear weapons$xEquipment and supplies$xGovernment policy 615 0$aNuclear reactors$xHistory. 676 $a355.4/3/00973 700 $aCarlisle$b Rodney P$01116127 701 $aZenzen$b Joan M$01099476 801 0$bMdBmJHUP 801 1$bMdBmJHUP 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910524706603321 996 $aSupplying the Nuclear Arsenal$92784194 997 $aUNINA