HEAD START ON TOMORROW

this building is 62 ft High 72 ft wide and 120 ft long it's located about 5 miles north of charoy Michigan at Big Rock Point there's nothing unusual about it to distinguish it from any other new turban generator building in the consumer's power service area or anywhere else for that matter inside the turbine generator is not a spectacular piece of Machinery now that it's assembled and installed there's no movement to see only a steady hum to hear the administration building at Big Rock Point is well-designed handsome modern but it's a lot like many industrial structures it houses the control room there are offices and other rooms too but the control room is the most important only an experienced eye would be able to notice anything different about these panels in most respects they're much like those in any other power plant control room but this this is different this is not at all like what you'd expect to find at an electric power plant it's the new shape of a new kind of plant inside is the equipment for a new technology nuclear power here is where consumer power company and its customers are getting an adventurous and challenging head start on [Music] [Applause] tomorrow the stage the screen and television often bring you stories of high adventure fast moving action and Powerful drama right now I'd like to bring you a different kind of story in its own way it's just as dramatic as anything a writer could dream up what's more it's important to us all because it has to do with a new power source that will influence the future plans of our electric utility companies this power source is the atom nuclear power has made tremendous strides in our country in the last few years even though we're inclined to think of nuclear power as new it's important to remember that it has been proved in many applications the skipjack world's fastest submarine launched in 1958 is powered by an atomic reactor as are 23 other submarines in the Navy's underseas Fleet the aircraft carrier Enterprise mightiest ship ever built uses eight reactor units and in our Merchant Marine Fleet the Savannah also propelled by nuclear power is designed to carry 10,000 tons of cargo across the country several Atomic electric plants are in operation and others engineering completion the world's first fullscale atomic Electric Plant devoted entirely to peacetime purposes as shipping Port Pennsylvania has been in operation since 1957 the Yankee Atomic electric company's installation at R Massachusetts is supplying electric power to customers in the New England states the Consolidated Edison Company is operating the Indian Point plant on the Hudson River above New York City this is one of the largest nuclear plants in terms of electrical capacity completed by a utility company company right here in Michigan we have the Enrico FY Atomic power plant near Monroe Consumers power company is associated with this reactor project which is connected to Detroit Edison generating facilities and the Commonwealth Edison company's Dresden power station near Chicago has been on the line since 1960 producing of course the same kind of electricity that a conventional power plant produces which brings us to an important Point there's nothing mysterious about an atomic power plant basically we're just using a new heat Source the standard fuels used in the production of electric power have been coal oil and natural gas in the atomic power plant we are using a fourth heat Source Atomic fishing Atomic fuel has two advantages it isn't consumed rapidly like other fuels and it's very compact for instance the heat output of one L pound of uranium can equal the heat output of 70 tons of coal in the big Rock Point Nuclear Plant the heat produced by uranium fishing is used to turn water to steam the steam is passed through a steam drum to remove excess moisture the resulting dry steam goes onto the turbine where it spins the turbine blades the turbine drives the generator and electricity flows to the Transformers in the distribution Network once the steam has done its job in the turbine it's turned back to water in a condenser the water is pumped back to the reactor to be turned into steam again every furnace has to be regulated and the atomic furnace is no exception you regulate the heat output with control rods as they are moved down and away from the fuel core the fishing process produces more heat inserting the control rods all the way shuts the furnace off completely remove the rods it starts up again before we can get our furnace going we've got to get it into place and then put fuel in early in 1962 the reactor vessel arrives at the plant site from Chattanooga Tennessee working in bitterly cold weather men and machines nudge The Vessel into the sphere inch by inch and foot by foot after 4 days the vessel is raised to its upright position it took 2 years to build any damage now would jeopardize the entire plant schedule slowly the vessel is lowered into its nest of Steel concrete and huge pipes finally it's in place no time is lost in outfitting the furnace with its Hardware underneath the control rod Drive equipment is added quarters are cramped inside the furnace men install the grids that will guide the fuel bundles into place and keep them in proper alignment clean white workclothes are worn to help keep the interior of the vessel spotless cloth caps and shoe cut covers are also worn every night the opening of The Vessel is covered with plastic film to keep out dirt and [Music] dust checkin time in the morning every day sees more and more technicians fewer and fewer construction workers the furnace is just about ready for the fuel 2400 miles away the fuel is ready for the furnace at the San Jose California plant of General Electric fuel bundles for the Big Rock Point plant are brought out of storage each bundle contains 144 tubes filled with small pellets of uranium [Music] oxide shipping containers were especially designed to carry each bundle safely and rigidly on its Journey over the mountains and across the plains to Northern Michigan [Music] the shipment arrives at the plant on time and in perfect [Music] condition each fuel bundle is worth upwards of $220,000 [Music] after careful inspection the fuel is placed in storage at the plant but it won't be there for long outside the finishing touches are put on the plant construction is over acceptance testing has been going on inside as plant Personnel familiarize themselves with the mechanical equipment but in a sense they've just been practicing until today and today is September 27th 1962 today for the first time we'll know whether all the planning and design all the time and effort will pay off today we will attempt a controlled chain reaction in nuclear terms we will go critical the first of seven fuel bundles goes down into the water in the reactor vessel the control rods are fully inserted no reaction can take place until they are lowered [Music] all eyes are on the control room the control rods are lowered slowly and as expected and hoped for the nuclear reaction takes place it's a big day at Big Rock Point the atom has been put to work on schedule in the Big Rock Point information center visitors learn a lot about the atom and how its energy is used to make electricity during the summer months thousands of people visit the center every week from the balcony you can see much of the activity around the plant and you can see also the scenery for which this area is famous few of the visitors had a chance to see the big rock itself back in the fall of 1959 a few months before the beal Corporation engineer Constructor for the project started work on the site by July 1960 the hole for the sphere had been dug and construction was underway what does it cost to put up a plant like this the concrete work steel work and other items connected with erecting the buildings run close to $6 million the turban plant nearly 5 million the reactor equipment over 11 million other items bring the total up to $27 million for 4 and2 years after first operation Big Rock Point will be a center of research and development work conducted for the atomic energy commission this work will be performed by Consumers power company and General Electric Company one goal is to make the nuclear fuel last longer another is to reduce the cost of fabricating the fuel more and more heat will be developed in the core the heart of the atomic furnace without increasing its size these are essential objectives in the effort to make nuclear energy fully practicable as a heat source for generating electric power consumer power is one of 124 investor owned electric utility companies that are paying nearly 3/4 of a billion dollars to gain actual working experience with this new fuel well in advance of the day when it will be needed looking ahead is not new for the electric industry they must always put money into new plant and new techniques ahead of the need and the big rockpoint nuclear plant May well be one of the industry's most productive achievements nuclear fuel as it is used at Big Rock Point is very likely to become economically competitive with coal that day that tomorrow may seem a long way off to us now if it isn't not in the technology of power production Consumer Power knows this they've invested money time and manpower to build a power plant for Northern Michigan they've invested money time and manpower to gain a head start on tomorrow