Sodium Reactor Experiment Construction (1958)

Credit: U.S. Department of Energy SRE Construction (July 1958) - Construction of the Sodium Reactor Experiment at Santa Susana
Atomics International SNAP-10A Program
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Sodium Reactor Experiment
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SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965. The Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power Program (SNAP) reactor was developed under the SNAPSHOT program overseen by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
Atomics International, then a division of North American Aviation was the prime contractor for the SNAP-10A development. Most of the systems development and reactor testing was conducted at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Ventura County, California using a number of specialized facilities. A United States Department of Energy video depicting the development and fabrication of the SNAP-10A is available.
The company also developed and tested other compact nuclear reactors including the SNAP Experimental Reactor (SER), SNAP-2, SNAP-8 Developmental Reactor (SNAP8-DR) and SNAP-8 Experimental Reactor (SNAP-8ER) units at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. Atomics International also built and operated the Sodium Reactor Experiment, the first U.S. nuclear power plant to supply electricity to a public power system.
The testing and development involving radioactive materials caused environmental contamination at the former Atomics International Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) facilities. The United States Department of Energy is responsible for the identification and cleanup of the radioactive contamination. (The SSFL was also used for the unrelated testing and development of rocket engines by Rocketdyne primarily for NASA.) The DOE website supporting the site cleanup details the historical development of nuclear energy at SSFL including additional SNAP testing and development information.

[@widescreennavel]

Part 2 is even more exciting, when they try to frantically clean up after the meltdown!! The crew wore those new gloves and uni's, for nothing!

[@Nighthawke70]

Sodium coolant reactors have always been cantankerous and prone to wreck fuel rods through decomposition and corrosion. The use of centrifugal pumps that were lubricated and cooled with tetralin was another mistake. The tetralin leaked into the primary loop, causing problems with blockages and subsequent cooling and reactor performance. Inexperience with sodium as a coolant caused several incidents, including a wash cell explosion that nearly turned it inside out (using WATER to wash fuel rods contaminated with sodium, who woulda thought that one up). After the messy 1959 events, the AEC decide decided to shut the reactor down and shift from sodium to NaK (Sodium Potassium), which honestly, is not much better.

[@BrendaEM]

Within my best understanding of the PDF reports I've read about the SRE, they knew that there was problems with the sodium freeze seals for the pumps, yet they went ahead anyway. Still, from what I've read, it seems that the cast metal area around the seal cracked, and let the Tetralin into the reactor, where it formed "carbonaceous" reside which made it overheat and melt down. Ultimately, I don't know what was so different about the SRE VS EBR, reactors that it warranted another experiment. It's baffling why they forged on ahead using the reactor, when there was every sign that it was in trouble. It's amazing to read the reports that they put the sodium in drums, floated them out in the pond, and shot at them, so the burned and sank. I've not read about many industrial processes, which require a firearm. Some of the engineering solutions they did was quite unique. You don't often see carbon logs being rammed into a sheet-metal condoms. When the core melted down, some of the moderator units burst. Still, as a video, I like the music. To enjoy the whole series, it's best to also watch the core-recovery video, and the decommissioning.

[@aaronhadar4062]

We’re only apes, only explanation possible

[@sonywalkman2011]

Thanks for Russian subtitles)

[@mariaim7436]

i live in canoga im screwed why did the woodsley fire bring back the radio activity?

[@bulgingbattery2050]

Where is comrade dyatlov?

[@junoguten]

5:23 Are those NC or CNC machines? If they're CNC that's some pretty early models! (I think CNC was invented in 1956) Edit: says mid 1954, nvm. Must be NC.

[@membola]

looks like its just a mill

[@darrylhaynes9208]

Slide rule analog controls

[@mwnci1000]

clearly, levitation 18:41 didn't take off either.

[@widescreennavel]

Exactly! Also, at 13:50, it took building a friggin reactor to get the men to take a damn bath. How the times have changed, rh!

[@aknewhope]

No conceivable way radioactivity could be released. LOL

[@MrShobar]

+Jordan Reese This reactor was for space applications. It produced power in the tens of watts. If radioactivity was released , it would be in orbit, or even further away from the earth.

[@whangie1]

+MrShobar I read there was a meltdown and release of fission products in the SRE test reactor at Santa Susanna in California.

[@HiVisionary1125]

There was damage to the core, but the reactor was repaired & returned to service. Claims about releases of fission products are mostly nonsensical : if you were to damage a fuel element, with radioactive iodine released into an enormous volume of liquid sodium, where would the iodine go? Into sodium iodide! Caesium likewise could not escape. Only the inert gases xenon & krypton would make it out of the sodium, & they are of no particular concern.

[@charlieinsingapore]

lol

[@BrendaEM]

@@MrShobar , could you be thinking of the SNAP reactors?

[@KhaNguyen-k1z]

Cong hoa xa hoi chu nghia viet nam doc lap tu do hanh phuc ngay 30 /12/2005 giay to ho so mat da ky trong phim tai lieu lich su chien tranh thua da di chet het ca mot noi cut ra khoi dang nha nuoc tai viet nam the gioi am duong tren duoi trong ngoai giao lai cho gia dinh hoang xuan hoi huyen me hoang thi kha con de hoang xuan khoi vo hoang thi kha con de am 4 dua con de hoang xuan thao vo hoang thi nha khanh con de hoang xuan anh dung tai xa nghi thiet huyen nghi loc tinh nghe an viet nam the gioi het

[@marialiyubman]

And then came “atomic city” CA, it was all covered up and everybody died.

[@justinangreeblackman4312]

Didn't catch on, because it Didn't have the added "Benefit" of being able to be We@p0nized...

[@rdormer]

Really? Because PWRs and LWRs can't really be weaponized, and they seem to have caught on.....

[@youtubeisapublisher6407]

@@rdormer They can't be made into weapons themselves but they generate small amounts of Plutonium 238 which is used to build nuclear weapons and a few other niche nuclear technologies like RTGs.

[@marialiyubman]

It literally exploded.