Army Nuclear Power Program - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Army Nuclear Power Program (ANPP) was a program of the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

to develop small pressurized water

Pressurized water reactor

Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...

and boiling water

Boiling water reactor

The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...

nuclear power reactors

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

to generate electrical and space-heating energy primarily at remote, relatively inaccessible sites. The ANPP had several notable accomplishments, but ultimately it was considered to be "a solution in search of a problem." The U. S. Army Engineer Reactors Group was the entity that managed this program and it was headquartered at Ft. Belvoir, VA. The program began in 1954 and had effectively terminated by about 1977, with the last class of NPP operators graduating in 1977. Work continued for some time thereafter either for decommissioning of the plants or placing them into SAFSTOR (long term storage and monitoring before decommissioning)

SAFSTOR

For nuclear power plants governed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, SAFSTOR is one of the options for nuclear decommissioning of a shut down plant. During SAFSTOR the de-fuelled plant is monitored for up to sixty years before complete decontamination and dismantling of the site,...

Background

There was interest in the possible application of nuclear power to land-based military needs as early as 1952. A memo from the Secretary of Defense, dated 10 Feb 1954, assigned the Army the responsibility for "developing nuclear power plants to supply heat and electricity at remote and relatively inaccessible military installations." The Department of the Army (DA) established the Army Nuclear Power Program and assigned it to the Corps of Engineers.

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 made the Atomic Energy Commission responsible for R&D in the nuclear field, so that the ANPP then became a joint interagency 'activity' of the DA and the AEC. When the Atomic Energy Act was revised in 1954, Paragraph 91b authorized the Department of Defense to obtain special nuclear material for use in defense utilization facilities. The focus of the Army Nuclear Power Program was on power production facilities while the Naval Reactors Program concentrated on nuclear propulsion for submarines and ships. On 9 April 1954 the Chief of Engineers established the US Army Engineer Reactors Group to perform the missions assigned by DA. Essentially, these missions were to:

conduct R&D, with the AEC, on nuclear power plant development;
operate the Corps of Engineers nuclear power plants;
carry out training in support of the plants;
provide technical support to other agencies as required;
develop programs for application of nuclear reactors to military needs.

In a Department of the Army Approved Qualitative Materiel Development Objective for Nuclear Power Plants, dated 7 January 1965, these objectives were stated for the program:

Reduction or elimination of dependence on [fossil] fuel sources.
Reduction or elimination of logistic burden necessary to support conventional power plants.
Reliable operation.
Infrequent refueling and maintenance.
Reduced crew size, with ultimate goal of unattended operation.
Transportability, mobility, and reaction times compatible with the mission or equipment to be supported.
Improved cost-effectiveness.

The AEC ultimately concluded that the probability of achieving the objectives of the Army Nuclear Power Program in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost was not high enough to justify continued funding of its portion of projects to develop small, stationary, and mobile reactors. Cutbacks in military funding for long-range research and development because of the Vietnam War led the AEC to phase out its support of the program in 1966. The costs of developing and producing compact nuclear power plants were simply so high that they could be justified only if the reactor had a unique capability and filled a clearly defined objective backed by DOD. After that, the Army's participation in nuclear power plant research and development efforts steadily declined and eventually stopped altogether.

List of ANPP plants

Eight reactors / plants were constructed. In this list MWe = megawatts electrical; kWe = kilowatts electrical. Any power plant, nuclear or otherwise, has an efficiency with which thermal energy can be converted to electrical energy. This thermodynamic efficiency

Thermal efficiency

In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, a furnace, or a refrigerator for example.-Overview:...

is usually in the 30-40% range, but for the ANPP reactors was, for various reasons, more often about 20%. Also, the electrical energy available outside the plant is limited by (1) the need in some designs to extract steam for space heating, and (2) in all cases the need to supply electrical power to the plant itself (station service); in other words, "It takes electricity to make electricity."

Due to the requirement for a small physical size, all these reactors other than the MH-1A used highly enriched uranium (HEU). The MH-1A had more space to work with, and more weight-carrying capacity, so this was a low-enrichment reactor; i.e., larger and heavier. The MH-1A was briefly considered for use in Vietnam, but the idea of anything nuclear in Vietnam was quickly rejected by the State Department.

The plants are listed in order of their initial criticality. See the gallery of photos in the next section. Sources for this data include the only known book on the ANPP, by Suid, and a DOE document.

SM-1
SM-1
SM-1 is a 2 MWe nuclear reactor developed for The US Army Nuclear Power Program . It was located at Fort Belvoir, VA, and achieved first criticality in 1957 It was the first US nuclear power plant to be connected to an electrical grid.It was decommissioned in 1973....

: 2 MWe. Fort Belvoir
Fort Belvoir
Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Originally, it was the site of the Belvoir plantation. Today, Fort Belvoir is home to a number of important United States military organizations...

, VA, Initial criticality April 8, 1957 (several months before the Shippingport Reactor
Shippingport Reactor
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, "the world’s first full-scale atomic electric power plant devoted exclusively to peacetime uses," was located near the present-day Beaver Valley Nuclear Generating Station on the Ohio River in Beaver...

) and the first U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

nuclear power plant to be connected
Grid connection
In electrical grids, a power system network integrates transmission grids, distribution grids, distributed generators and loads that have connection points called busses. A bus in home circuit breaker panels is much smaller than those used on the grid, where busbars can be 50 mm in diameter...

to an electrical grid. Used primarily for training and testing, rather than power generation for Ft. Belvoir. The plant was designed by the American Locomotive Company and was the first reactor developed under the Army Nuclear Power Program. See the SM-1 image gallery, below.

SL-1
SL-1
The SL-1, or Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, was a United States Army experimental nuclear power reactor which underwent a steam explosion and meltdown on January 3, 1961, killing its three operators. The direct cause was the improper withdrawal of the central control rod, responsible for...

: Boiling water reactor, 300kWe, National Reactor Testing Station, Idaho. Initial criticality August 11, 1958. Site of the only fatal accident at a US nuclear power reactor, on January 3, 1961, which destroyed the reactor. The SL-1 was designed by the Argonne National Laboratory to gain experience in boiling water reactor operations, develop performance characteristics, train military crews, and test components. Combustion Engineering was awarded a contract by the AEC to operate the SL-1 and in turn employed the Army's military operating crew to continue running the plant. This BWR was specifically designed to power DEW
Dew
[Image:Dew on a flower.jpg|right|220px|thumb|Some dew on an iris in Sequoia National Park]]Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening...

line stations. Three men were killed when this reactor plant went from shutdown to prompt critical
Prompt critical
In nuclear engineering, an assembly is prompt critical if for each nuclear fission event, one or more of the immediate or prompt neutrons released causes an additional fission event. This causes a rapid, exponential increase in the number of fission events...

during a maintenance procedure.

PM-2A: 2 MWe, plus heating. Camp Century, Greenland. Initial criticality October 3, 1960. The first "portable" nuclear power reactor. Brought to Greenland in parts, assembled, operated, disassembled, shipped back to CONUS
Conus
Conus is a large genus of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs, with the common names of cone snails, cone shells or cones. This genus is placed in the subfamily Coninae within the family Conidae. Geologically speaking, the genus is known from the Eocene to the Recent ...

. The PM-2A in Camp Century, Greenland, was designed by the American Locomotive Company to demonstrate the ability to assemble a nuclear power plant from prefabricated components in a remote, arctic location. The pressure vessel was subsequently used to investigate neutron embrittlement in carbon steel. This plant was shut down 1963-1964. PM-2A operated at a uranium-235 enrichment of 93 percent.

ML-1
ML-1
ML-1 was an experimental reactor built as part of the US Army Nuclear Power Program. Unlike the other seven reactors of this program, it did not use a steam turbine, but instead used a nitrogen coolant under several atmospheres of pressure to drive a closed cycle gas turbine.Though the concept of a...

: first closed cycle gas turbine. Initial criticality was on March 30, 1961. Designed for 300 kW, but only achieved 140 kW. Operated for only a few hundred hours of testing. The ML-1 was designed by Aerojet General Corporation to test an integrated reactor package that was transportable by military semi-trailers, railroad flatcars, and barges. This reactor was shut down in 1965.

PM-1: 1.25 MWe, plus heating. Sundance, Wyoming
Sundance, Wyoming
Sundance is a town in Crook County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,161 at the 2000 census. The town is named for the Sun Dance ceremony practiced by several North American Indian Nations.-Sundance in popular culture:...

. Owned by the Air Force, this pressurized water reactor was used to power a radar station. Initial criticality was on February 25, 1962. The PM-1 was designed by the Martin Company and provided electric power to the 731st Radar Squadron of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). This plant was shut down in 1968. PM-1 operated at a uranium-235 enrichment of 93 percent.

PM-3A: 1.75 MWe, plus heating and desalinization. McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is a U.S. Antarctic research center located on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National...

, Antarctica. Owned by the Navy. Initial criticality March 3, 1962, decommissioned 1972. The PM-3A, located at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, was designed by the Martin Company to provide electric power and steam heating to the Naval Air Facility at McMurdo Sound. PM-3A operated at a uranium-235 enrichment of 93 percent.

SM-1A: 2 MWe, plus heating. Fort Greely, Alaska
Fort Greely, Alaska
Fort Greely is a census-designated place in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is home to the Fort Greely military installation. At the 2000 census the population was 461.-Geography:...

. Initial criticality March 13, 1962. The SM-1A at Ft. Greely, Alaska, was designed by the American Locomotive Company and was the first field facility developed under the Army Nuclear Power Program. This site was selected to develop construction methods in a remote, arctic location. This plant was shut down in 1972. SM-1A operated at a uranium-235 enrichment of 93 percent.

MH-1A
MH-1A
thumb|right|300pxMH-1A was a pressurized water reactor and the first floating nuclear power station. One of a series of reactors in the US Army Nuclear Power Program, its designation stood for mobile, high power.-History:...

: 10 MWe, plus fresh water supply to the adjacent base. Mounted on the Sturgis
SS Charles H. Cugle
SS Charles H. Cugle was a liberty ship, hull number 3145.Renamed the Sturgis, it provided the platform for MH-1A, the world's first floating nuclear power plant....

, a barge (no propulsion systems) converted from a Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...

, and moored in the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

. Initial criticality at Ft. Belvoir VA (in Gunston Cove, off the Potomac River), January 24, 1967. It was the last of the eight plants to permanently cease operation. The MH-1A was designed by Martin Marietta Corporation. It remained moored at Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal from 1968 until 1977, when it was towed back to Ft. Belvoir for decommissioning. It was moved to the James River Reserve Fleet in 1978 for an expected 50 years of SAFSTOR. This reactor used low-enrichment uranium (LEU) in the range of 4 to 7 percent. The MH-1A had an elaborate analog-computer-powered simulator installed at the Training Division, USAERG, Ft. Belvoir.

Key to the codes:

First letter: S - stationary, M - mobile, P - portable.
Second letter: H - high power, M - medium power, L - low power.
Digit: Sequence number.
Third letter: A indicates field installation.

Of the eight built, six produced operationally useful power for an extended period. Many of the designs were based on United States Naval reactor

United States Naval reactor

United States Naval reactor refers to nuclear reactors used by the United States Navy aboard certain ships to produce power for propulsion, electric power, catapulting airplanes in aircraft carriers, and a few more minor uses. Such Naval nuclear reactors have a complete power plant associated with...

s, which were proven compact reactor designs.

ANPP significant accomplishments

References for this list include the DOE document, the Suid book, and the Briefing Book.

Detailed designs for pressurized and boiling water reactors, as well as gas-cooled and liquid-metal cooled reactors.
First nuclear power plant with a containment structure (SM-1)
First use of stainless steel for fuel element cladding (SM-1)
First nuclear power plant in the US to supply electrical power to a commercial grid (SM-1)
First in-place reactor vessel annealing, using nuclear heat source, in the US (SM-1A)
First steam generator replacement in US (SM-1A)
First pressure-suppression containment (SM-1A)
First operational boiling-water reactor power plant (SL-1)
First portable, pre-packaged, modular nuclear power plant to be installed, operated, and removed (PM-2A)
First use of nuclear power for desalinization (PM-3A)
First land-transportable, mobile nuclear power plant (ML-1)
First nuclear powered closed-loop (Brayton) gas turbine cycle (ML-1)
First floating (barge-mounted) nuclear power plant (MH-1A)

Nuclear power plant operator training

The Nuclear Power Plant Operator Course (NPPOC) was conducted at Ft. Belvoir. Applicants for the program were enlisted men who had to commit to serving a minimum of two years after completion of training. The requirements for admission to the NPPOC included aptitude test scores at least as stringent as those required for admission to Officer Candidate School. Over 1,000 Nuclear Power Plant operators were licensed between the years 1958 through 1977. The NPPOC was an intense and academically challenging year-long course.

The training was in three phases of four months each: (1) Academic; (2) Operator; (3) Specialty. Academic phase was eight hours per day of classroom work on Electrical, Mechanical, Nuclear Engineering. Operator phase was at the SM-1, and was shift work both on the "floor" of the plant (i.e., as an "Equipment Operator") and in the control room (Control Room Operator). Specialty phase was one of Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, or Health Physics / Plant Chemistry. The plants were maintained by the operator personnel, trained in these plant maintenance specialties. On graduation from the NPPOC, an individual was "licensed to learn" how to operate a nuclear power plant. A series of badges

Nuclear Reactor Operator Badge

The Nuclear Reactor Operator Badge is a decoration of the United States Army which was issued between the years of 1965 and 1990. In 1991, the decoration was declared obsolete by Army Regulation 672-5-1, but uniform regulations permit the continued wearing of badges awarded before then...

worn on uniforms designated the individual's progress through the training program.

Nuclear-powered fuel depot

This material is extracted from an article in Army Logistician It is also discussed in the Briefing Book, Section III-C.

In November 1963, an Army study submitted to the Department of Defense (DOD) proposed employing a military compact reactor (MCR) as the power source for a nuclear-powered energy depot, which was being considered as a means of producing synthetic fuels in a combat zone for use in military vehicles. MCR studies, which had begun in 1955, grew out of the Transportation Corps' interest in using nuclear energy to power heavy, overland cargo haulers in remote areas. These studies investigated various reactor and vehicle concepts, including a small liquid-metal-cooled reactor, but ultimately the concept proved impractical.

The energy depot, however, was an attempt to solve the logistics problem of supplying fuel to military vehicles on the battlefield. While nuclear power could not supply energy directly to individual vehicles, the MCR could provide power to manufacture, under field conditions, a synthetic fuel as a substitute for conventional carbon-based fuels. The nuclear power plant would be combined with a fuel production system to turn readily available elements such as hydrogen or nitrogen into fuel, which then could be used as a substitute for gasoline or diesel fuel in cars, trucks, and other vehicles.

Of the fuels that could be produced from air and water, hydrogen and ammonia offer the best possibilities as substitutes for petroleum. By electrolysis or high- temperature heat, water can be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen then used in engines or fuel cells. Alternatively, nitrogen can be produced through the liquefaction and fractional distillation of air and then combined with hydrogen to form ammonia as a fuel for internal-combustion engines. Consideration also was given to using nuclear reactors to generate electricity to charge batteries for electric-powered vehicles—a development contingent on the development of suitable battery technology.

By 1966, the practicality of the energy depot remained in doubt because of questions about the cost-effectiveness of its current and projected technology. The Corps of Engineers concluded that, although feasible, the energy depot would require equipment that probably would not be available during the next decade. As a result, further development of the MCR and the energy depot was suspended until they became economically attractive and technologically possible.

ANPP Timeline

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.