The Nuclear Reactor At Fort Greely

The purpose of an environmental monitoring program is to assure that the waste control procedures utilized by a reactor plant are effective in preserving the integrity of the surrounding environment. The SM-1A Environmental Radiation Monitoring Plan provides a systematic method of sample collection, processing, and counting to assure standardized data in sufficient quantity to permit reliable statistical analysis. Periodic reports are prepared summarizing and interpreting the results.

The report presents tables of the environmental radiation monitoring data collected during the period 1 January 1968 to 31 December 1968. The report concludes that the background radioactivity was at or very near the minimum detectable activity of the counting system employed. (Author).

On August 6 and August 9, 1945, the world became aware of the destructiveness of nuclear energy when the U.S. Army Air Corps dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even before the bombs were detonated, though, President Harry Truman had directed his thoughts toward non-military uses of the atom, recognizing that the atomic bomb had given man a new understanding of the forces of nature. This book examines the history and development of nuclear power from the perspective of the U.S. Army's nuclear power program, telling its story from the creation of the Office of Research and Development through the program's days of growth,and on to its eventual decline. This history examines the development of the United States Army's nuclear power program from its inception, through the development and operation of six small nuclear power plants throughout the Western Hemisphere, to its evolution into a military support agency. The Manhattan Project District Engineer, General Kenneth Nichols, who generated the idea for the program, worked for the development of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. From the initial plans to develop nuclear power plants at remote bases, the book traces the path the Army took in getting its proposals approved by the Atomic Energy Commission, formally organizing the nuclear program, and building a prototype of a nuclear power plant. Separate chapters are devoted to Fort Greely, the nuclear program at the height of its success and accomplishment, and its subsequent decline and transitional period. With its list of suggestions for further reading and a comprehensive index, this volume will be a valuable resource for courses in military history, energy issues, and the development of atomic power. It will also represent an important addition to college, university, and public libraries.

The report is a result of an investigation of the existing protective relay coordination of the 2400-volt distribution system serving Fort Greely, Alaska, the 2400-volt system in the diesel generating plant, and the 2400-volt and 480-volt systems in the SM-1A Nuclear Power Plant. The requirements necessary to obtain acceptable selective tripping coordination were also investigated. The report concludes the existing relay settings that are adequate and properly set and suggests changes in settings that should be made to correct those relay settings that are faulty and improperly set. These proposals cover the 2400-volt and the 480-volt systems in the Fort Greely power grid. (Author).