CH₳DDERVOX

On a roll here: Presenting Nuclear Reactors for Space (1961) Liquid metal coolant, beryllium reflectors, rotating control drums, mercury vapor turbogenerators... all in 1961 This has rare footage showing lots of hardware and even reactor shipments around California. The IAEA's Lise Meitner Library digitized this one and I got permission from them and DOE to get it and post it. (I recently got a big batch through this method so expect more). Enjoy! Catalog entry: "The SNAP program Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power is an AEC program to develop long-lived auxiliary power from nuclear energy for use in satellites and space vehicles. Compact atomic reactors being developed by Atomics International for use in SNAP systems are shown in this semitechnical film. Safety characteristics of the SNAP reactor during fabrication, testing, transport, installation, launching, and use in space are described. Detailed sequences filmed at Atomics International on fabrication and testing show the simplicity and compactness of the reactors. Safety features are described in scenes that illustrate shipping, launch-site activities, and launch of the reactor into space. The burnup and dispersal of the reactor during reentry into the atmosphere are shown in a detailed animation sequence. Many beneficial uses of SNAP in the U. S. national space program are illustrated." IAEA ID: AVN0155 NAID: 88198 0:00 Introduction: Nuclear Energy Enters the Space Age 1:18 Why Satellites Need Compact Nuclear Power 1:58 The SNAP Program Explained 2:18 SNAP-2: 3,000 Watts from a Mercury Vapor Turbogenerator 2:39 SNAP-8: Ten Times the Power, for Electric Propulsion 2:57 SNAP-10A: Thermoelectric Conversion, No Moving Parts 3:19 Inside the Reactor: Core, Fuel Elements, Beryllium Reflector 4:24 Design Requirements and the Safety Philosophy 5:23 Uranium-Zirconium Hydride Fuel: Handling Without Shielding 6:00 Ground Testing: Criticality, Immersion, Shock and Vibration 7:04 Shipping the Reactor Safely Through Populated Areas 8:22 At the Launch Site: Assembly, Safe Locks and Agena Mating 9:55 Launch Hazards: Exclusion Radius and Pad Accident Analysis 10:54 Ascent, Range Destruct and Flight Reliability 11:49 In Orbit: Tracking, Startup and One Year of Operation 12:38 300-Year Orbits and Designed Burn-Up on Reentry 13:25 Reentry Heating Tests on Fuel Elements 14:28 Reentry Simulation: Breakup and Dispersal at 80 Miles 15:40 Conclusion: Safety as Integral to SNAP Development 16:03 The Promise: Global TV Relay from Equatorial Orbit 17:00 Toward Deep Space and Interplanetary Travel

I believe this is the first-ever documentary about nuclear fusion. It was produced in 1958 just as Project Sherwood was declassified. Now I'm happy to make it available online for the first time ever. Please enjoy! Thanks to Adam Rizika (funded scanning the 1st part, in high res) and thanks to the IAEA Lise Meitner Library (digitized the 2nd part in DVD quality) Contents: - 0:00 Introduction: Fuel in the Oceans and the Fourth Conquest of the Atom - 2:15 What Is a Plasma? The Deuterium Fusion Reactions - 4:20 Magnetic Confinement: The Magnetic Bottle, Leakage, and Instability - 6:18 Project Sherwood's Four Labs; Los Alamos and the Perhapsatron - 10:27 Columbus II and Columbus S4: Fast Pinch Experiments - 12:28 Ixion and Scylla: Rotating Plasma and Fast Compression - 15:30 UC Radiation Lab: Gamma Pinch, Homopolar, and Tubular Pinch - 20:31 The Magnetic Mirror Machine and "Table Top" - 24:36 "Toy Top": Multi-Stage Magnetic Compression - 27:20 "Felix": Injecting and Trapping High-Energy Ions - 29:30 Princeton's Project Matterhorn: The Stellarator - 32:35 Stellarator Instability, Shear Stabilization, and Ohmic Heating - 35:17 The Diverter and the Model C Stellarator - 37:47 Oak Ridge National Laboratory: The DCX Machine - 40:12 Inside DCX: Trapping the Ion Beam, Charge Exchange, and Burnout - 44:18 DCX in Operation and the State of Fusion Research, 1958