(SANITIZED)USSR ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY(SANITIZED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80S01540R006700610006-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 28, 2013
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: September 23, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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ouAI -HUM
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
Energy
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
USSR on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic
50X1-HUM
REPORT
DATE DISTR. 23 September 19550X1-HUM
NO. - OF PAGES 20
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
S
(Note: Washington distribution indicated by "X"; Field distribution by "#".)
S n . ? REPORT, ? ? . ? s
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INSTALLATIONS
Atomic Power Station
l., There was in operation a uranium nuclear-reactor wh.ich.furnished -electric
power to an electric network, This, reactor was: under the auspices-of the
Academy of Sciences, of the USSR. It was. an experimental reactor. The
electricity generated was still very expensive, but this was .apparently
the first successful attempt at a nuclear reactor to generate a significant
amount of electrical energy:
.2. The reactor was located to. the south of Moscow in Obninskooma railroad on the Kishingv-Moscow (sic) line,. 110 kilometers from'Moscow. The stop
.delegates went there by automobile, most of the Way.-on the big highway from
Moscow to tie Crimea, and then 120 (sic). kilometers on a.aide.road to
Obninakoye-17 The reactor was near the Pray p: River, from which water was 50X1-HUM
taken -and -again .dicharged.
3. The experimental reactor was under the supreme leadership of Prof. flokhintsev,
member of the Academy. Of course, the immediate control on everyday matters
was in the hands of the plant engineer. Prof. Blokhintsev, a theoretical
physicist, was, probably in charge of the nuclear physics aspect.
4. The reactor proper was. a, uranium reactor moderated by graphite and was of
the cylindrical type. There were 130 rods containing uranium, while the
reactor contained 17 tons of graphite.. Because of the complex structure.of
the rods, as indicated below% it would hardly be correct to speak of -"uranium
rods-" In. the rods.,. besides uranium and
graphite, there were :stainle's:s steed
and ordinary water. The uranium was also strongly enriched; it contained
five percent U-235. Thus the total amount of uranium in the reactor was , 500
kilograms, containing 25 kilogramsOf U-235. The rods held therurainium.ins.ide
which was cooled by water streaming through rapidly. The rods were coated with
graphite and fitted into the cylindrical graphite-moderator block. The rods
were really pipes. 6.5 meters long. The uranium was in the lowest two.meters~
or perhaps one and one-half meters,. of the pipe's. The expert' who guided the
delegates around the power station said that he did not knowhaw,the pipes
looked inside.; the .rods (or pipes.) were received from elsewhere ready for use.
The` uranium was coated with stainless steely and outside that again coated
with graphite.
5. The reactor was.built into the ground and was screened from'outside`by a
biological screen of 'one meter of water, directly connected to the reactor,
followed by three meters` of concrete.
6. The control rods were of boron carbide. They ere 18 in number and were'set
vertically. Each control rod could absorb,10 7, expressed in Keff. I (sic).
The shutoff rods (two) source thought) were lso.of boron:carbide and could
each absorb ten percent of the reactivity. There were a.couple of canals
or channels for taking measurementsy but there were very few -of them,for the
real purpose of this reactor was the production-of energy.
7'a The cooling water of the primary water system came in from above,, streamed
downward, and again upward. Figure I gives a possible construction:
figure 1
UVANUm
St4iri1@,? SN-e-
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SECRET
8.
thew
of the water channel was 15 millimeters. The innermost water channel, for
the downward streaming water,. was 10 millimeterswide. The uranium, in any
case, was in a ring or cylinder acting as a water channel, and on both sides
it was equipped with stainless steel. Whether it was cooled on both sides
or only on one side was not wholly
9. The primary water. system. The cooling water which streamed through the
reactor tube'
_
-
r Mn
s
is incorrect, since the boiling point is 312?C or about .-5900F.-In a y
any' 50X1-HUM
case, in the primary circuit the water remained below the b
ili
o
ng point
at 100 atmospheres. The cooling water entered the reactor tubes at a
temperature of 1909C, and left at a temperature of 260? to 210?C.
10. The pressure was built up by means of air balloons, with everything in
stainless steel, as indicated in figure 3.
rit-W-4 @trCU1t
To prevent dissolving and the inward diffusion of light, there was, a diaphragm
with a vprv rzmn l 7 c?~?f'- 4 ~-
water surface of the air balloons. +a 50X1-HUM
0 this was intended to be a kind or floater, which could
b
go
ack and forth
on the surface of the water and which allowed little direct contact between 50X1-HUM
water and air. The air balloons were kept even farther away from the rapidly
circulating primary water system by means of a long narrow pipe. The air
cushions of the air balloons were in direct contact with 2.5 'cubic meters of
air at 100 atmospheres.. There seemed.to be two of these pressure-giving
systems, one at work and one in reserve.
11. There was a great deal in re erve. The
two centrifugal ~ primary water was driven around by
pumps of stainless steel, while there were two others in
reserve. The water in the primary system took eight seconds to make the
circuit.
12. The secondary water system. The heat of the primary system was, developed
in steam generators, in which a secondary water system generated steam of
250?C and 12.5 atmospheres. The boiling point at 12.5 atmospheres it about
190?C; thus, really superheated steam was produced. In the secondary system,
which was made up of ordinary steel and was not radioactive, there were 300
tons of water. Working at full. steam, 42 tons of steam an hour were developed.
The steam was conveyed to steam turbines, in a nearby building; etc. After
condensation, the water wasagain.sent back into the secondary system.
13. When working, each reactor tube or pipe was separately supplied with water
from the primary water system, and two cubic.meters of water per hour
streamed through each reactor pipe. It is. essential that the primary water
going out of each pipe have the same temperature. - Each pipe,, there, was
controlled independently. The tolerances lay between 1.6 and 2.4 cubic meters
per hour. If one of the flow tolerances on even one of the pipes was under-
working or overworking the boron carbide pipes went to work, and the reactor
was automatically phut off. These shutoff rods could each' take up ten percent 50X1 -HUM
of the reactivity.
14. At full speed, the flux was 5 x 1013 neutrons per
square'
Thirty thousand kilowatts of heat were Quare centimeter per second.
generated. There was 18 percent output
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in the conversion into electric energy, After duatign of the consumption
of energy of the operation itself, a net of Pa Q0( iowattn of electric
power was available.
15. There was a second generator in the generator room whj@h worked on gas, so ?
that they could stop the reactor from wor at g time without cutting
reactor power station is to have at ieaet tws r@
actors, -
50X1-HUM
the reactor was working at 55
percent of its capacity, The temperature of the urax4= remained below 50X1-HUM
5000C': In the graphite of the 1494'' tor3 the to . rat a can go up to
7000c.
16. After 100 days (full steam?) the uranium pipes have to be removed. Then
the reactor is shut off, and they wait two days until the wort radioactivity
has disappeared. When they can lift the ,pipes DLit with, age cranes, and can
t
s
ore them in a room which was underground and was shielded from above by
17. Controls. Each room was checked constantly for radioactivity, which was done
centrally by.ionzation chambets. The maximum level permitted was 1.8 micro-
roentgens per second. The change of air was such that each.room or compart-
ment had completely fresh air 20 to 25 times per hour. The waste was carried
off by a smokestack 100 meters high.
18. The speed of the primary water. The surface of the section of the pipe
going down the center of each reactor tube was about 0,75 square centimeter.
Since two cubic meters of water per hour were driven through, the linear
speed of the water was about eight meters per second. This would be. true
for stainless steel; for aluminum the maximum safe speed'woula be seven
19. The thickness, of the uranium layer. In each pipe there were about .200 cubic
centimeters of uranium. If the height of the uranium layer was two meters,
this would mean one cubic centimeter of uranium per running centimeter of
tube. In the reconstruction in figure 1 above, there would be a thickness
of about 2.8 millimeters, and in figure 2 about 2.5 millimeters of uranium.
20. If there was a coherent layer. of uranium, then the uranium must have been
rolled into a small strip about 2.8 or 2.5 millimeters thick, which had then
been wrapped in a spiral form around a stainless steel cylinder. Lengthwise
there was no need for any great amount of cohesion between the uranium and
the stainless steel. It would be effective,- if the leading contact between
the uranium and both the surrounding steel cylinders was good. Then there
could have been uranium pellets between the steel cylinders, and there
might even have been a similar profile rolling of a somewhat wider system of
two concentric steel cylinders filled with uranium pellets of a good thick-
ness. Then they could even user UQ2 or other uranium compounds.
21. In this design, bursting or rupturing in a vertical direction along the
length of the pipe would not be so serious. Perhaps this was the way in
which they obtained such a high number of megawatt/days, At full speed,
they got 30,000 kilowatts of heat. The reactor held one-half ton of
uranium. If the pipes, or tubes went for 100 days at full speed the out-
put was 6,000 megawatt days per ton of uranium. this 50X1-HUM
i c vcvtr b,-0 ..L.
22. The thickness of the graphite coating. Suppose the thickness: of the stainless
steel cylinders was 0. millimeter each. This could be true, for at 100
atmospheres and 270?C a thickness of .0.6 millimeter would be necessary, based
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11
-5-
on two-thirds of the fluid limit. Then, according to both figure 1 and
figure 2 above, the graphite coating of the pipes would be about 24 niii-
meters thick. When the pipes are changed., this graphite, which suffers the
most through radiation, must be changed. at the same time.
22. Uranium costs:., Five hundred kilograms of non-enriched uranium would cost
n
l
ear
y 31,.000. There were, however, 25 kilograms of U-235 in the.reactor.
Putting the price :at 20.00 per gram,, the cost of U.-235 would?.come to
about $500,000. Replaced every hundred days' this, would amount to'a yearly
cost of approximately $1,750,000. It may be.assumed that there is a
of uranium of this. price.
used
..r , a
-=u of rods in
the ground, and a reserve lot along the wall. The maintenance df a full
supply depended only on the speed of operation in the factory' producing the
uranium rods.
cnvi _"i inn
50X1-HUM
23? we
e of enrich eAt. 'The strength of :enrichment with fi
was n
ve 35
Ercent
r
e
e
-
'
.
c
ssary because
ter
of.the.mass of
itainless steel and ordi
iaary water.
24.
50X1-HUM
was cle
r
h
50X1
HUM
100 d
uant
,
a
owever; that after
ays of the power station reaction at 'top speeds they must have. used, a
it
f''
-
q
Sync
y o
nuclear fuel.atnour ting .t:o. about? th eeu k togr , of U-235
hro-*c.yclotron near Moscow
25. The s
opera
Mosco
A ver
ync hro- cyclotron of the Academy of S,tie'nces of the USSR has been in
tion since 1949. it was situated. on the Volga,at the place where the
w canal entered the.-river (125.kilometers. northeast of Moscow).0
l
50X1-HUM
canal
power
6
y
arge artificial lake was created, which served to feed the Moscow
, where the large power station worked. There was insufficient water
closer to Moscow.
2
.
The institute was one of many-belonging
to the Academy Of Sciencest d and had a~a.its.aim the stud of
physics of
particles of very high energy (,protons, deuterons:, neutrons, positive and
negative mesons.). The dispersal of neutrons by neutrons was studied b
Gatllipov, the dispersal of neutrons and pi mesons' by Kasada ev
27. The diameter of the machine was' six meters. The magnets of 7,000 tons were:
not made of cobalt steel but of "steel III". The magnet nuclei were coole'd
with.air, which in its turn was cooled by water. The current in the magnetic
poles was 5;000 amperes, the capacity 1,000 kilowatts. The field was 17j.000
gauss (at the edges. 15)000). The distance between the termini was-60 centi.-
meters in the center and 40 centimeters at the edge. There were 50 to.70
impulses. per second.
28., They used ordinary ion sources with low pressure, such as W-filament, graphite
bars, etc. They got 1010 protons per :square centimeter per second at the
source. With protons they obtained 680 Mev (current of 0.3 to 0.4 microampere)..
With neutrons they obtained 500 Mevy and'with negative mesons between 140
and 400 Mev. When the machine was' in.operation,? no one was around; the screen
to the measuring rooms consisted of a mall of reiorced concrete.sft meters
thick.
29.
The length of life o-' the mesons was 10'1 second; they then gave gamma
radiation. Be was_ bombarded o' negative mesons and..Cu for ositive mesons,
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30. There was a._,great deal of room for mounting experimental apparatus,.and many
experiments could be carried on at the same time. Two simultaneous measure.
ments could be made at the same time. In particular, besides Wilson cameras,
they worked there with bell formations in liquids, which-were suddenly released
to a pressure below the boiling point (Glaser vessel). 0X1-H U M
Various examples of s.
type of improved indicator -instruments were being tried. They had a.12=channel
gamma-spectrometer.
Heavy Water Reactor near Moscow,
31. -About 25 to 30 kilometers to the west (sic) of Moscow, there was a physics
institute of the Apademy of Sciences, in which there was a heavy water
.mgderated reactor.
32. The reactor contained four and one-half cubic meters of D20. This D20 was
twice distilled; there was no extra water purification. Above the.D20 was
helium which was regularly purified through.a Pd catalyzer and a.condenser
of D2 and 02. There was, thanks to very pure D20 and He, little anatomizing,
and the recombination.of D20) therefore, amounted to only a few milliliters
per hour.
33. The graphite reflector was kept under vacuum. Thus, they had a good leak
detector, since they had,no barometric effect.
34. The capacity of the circulation pumps was 21 cubic meters per hour. The
loss.in D20 with the pump was ten milliliters per day, which was not serious--
they had enough D20. The heat exchanger was of stainless steel. The 1 0
streamed into the inner pipes, where it was, cooled.from 700C to70C. The
Cd-control plates could take up four percent of the. reactivity. The switch- 50X1-HUM,
off plates were removed; the switching off was then done by lowering the D20
level.
35. There were 2.1 tons of natural uranium in the reactor, in the form of solid
bars 22 millimeters in diameter coated with 0.8 millimeters of anodic
oxydized aluminum. There was a total of 250 bars 1.60 meters long in a square
lattice with nine centimeters between bars. The diameter of the tank was
1.75 meters, the thickness of the wall of the tank was three millimeters of
aluminum.
36. In the center of the reactor there were no bars', but rather a'cylinder with
a diameter of 60 centimeters. There they had space for experimentation
with two thermo-columns. The thermic neutron flux in the center was 2.5 x 1012
neutrons per square centimeter per second; the energy level was,4oo to 6oo
kilowatts. There were no canals (channels) through the tank;. four canals
went up to the tank and four up. to the reflector. The reflector consisted
of one-meter-thick graphite.
37. The reactor has been wor.king.since 1949, and the uranium bars have been
.replaced twice. The top cover was revolving and was registered on a model,
where the bar numbers were recorded. The D20 was brought in from below and
was als.o pumped back as indicated in the following sketch:
b0~
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38. 'The Soviets at this institute were.carrying on the following experiments,
among others:
a. 'Cross section`' of o and p-deuterium
b. "Neutron chopper"
a. Spectrometer for gamma-quanta.
Cyclotron of 14 Mey in Moscow'
39. There was a cyclotron ,of 14 Mev in Moscow. This,. instrument had 'a diameter
of 1.20 meters and -a magnetic field of 13,)000 gauss. The vacuum was.3 x 10`6
mm Hg., the "'separating time'" four microseconds-., the "inlet" 80 kilovolts.
Leningrad as well.
there was another synchrotron outside Moscow, and one in 50X1-HUM
Institute of Physical Cstry of the Academy of Sciences
40. In Dubinin~`s section, they were studying the adsorption of mixtures of gasses.
on silica gel and carbon. In the.multimolecular field? in the presence of
one component sometimes more of another component can be adlorbed. This is
not the case in .the unimolecularfield.
41. The adsorption of heat was measured calorimetrically. With a'Pt-resistance
thermometer they could measure to 2 x 10` degrees Centigrade. Ig a quartz
.torsion balance they. could weigh one gram with an accuracy of 10"" g'am.
Also on 100 square centimeter's of gold filmy a complete, isotherm could be
taken.
4.2. For measurements at a ltnrer temperature, they had ?a cryostat 'with a con-
stancy. of 5 x lo -3 degrees' Centigrade. Heat insulation 'was adcomplie'.hed by
polystyrene foam rings,, heat circulation by a.bakelite isolation piece
between copper rods in .a cooler (sic) and to cool the frame (61c). By
wrapping in Pt while heating it for use., the'cold current was compensated.
43.. The Soviet electron microscope UEM 100 (100 kw) gave a resolving power
of 30 A. There was, very fine 'absorption.; and it was. also stereoscopic..
44. Frumkin was making oxide plating in a vacuums and was measuring electron
emission and then electrochemical properties. in the same plating. When at
room temperature, 02 was adsorbed.on FO-'.to a thickness of one monolayer
(1.51 x 1015 atm. /cm .actual 'surface);' then the layer was, more active than
normal. If adsorbed at '1202C,. the electronic emission in.that condition
was lower than normal; if it was warmed to room temperatures the layer was.
more active.'
c -InO?C
n v, orF Q1'oM6/C v
45. With more 02 at room temperature?: more deactivation occurred. At?a.higher
temperature, still more 02 was needed for deactivation. Electron emission
at 15000 gave a maximum'at 3.5 x 1015 atom. 0/cm2. They measured with an
accuracy to 10.8 Amp.
elec' row evn,sston
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46.
An iron plate of 0.1 mm was, between two containers. In one container there
was acid, and in the other an-alkaline solution. Ina polarized . alkaline
solution almost no H appeared on the plate. In the acid s
l
i
o
u
on,much n
showed up on the plate, and thus the %,formed on the alkaline side: If
much H was permitted to go to the acid side,,. then there was a decrease.of the
span (aie) on the alkaline side. The same result was obtained'by letting H
enter' from gas (discharge in H2.4 Ne; Ne-pressure 7 mm, thus:'hi.
PH20) , gher than,
1+7. Roginskiy's, impression was that the .surfaces of technical catalyzers' are
"biographically" heterogeneous. In his laboratory it was possible to see
the atom going back and forth in the "field emission" of tungsten globules.
in H2.
48. Deryagin was measuring the working force between plates' at a distance. At
distances important in colloid chemistry, the law 1/r3 (London, etc.-)'no longer holds true, but rather smaller forces. The theory of Casimir, and
Polder gave this already, but this was very well explained by the Russian
Lifshits. At Deryagin's, laboratory, they were also measuring the pressure
resistance of films of surface active matter.
50X1-HUM
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