P-9 Project
The P-9 Project was the codename given during
in Canada.Origins
Although a scientific curiosity from the start, considerable interest in heavy water was aroused in 1939 when
The problem with using heavy water was that it was scarce, and scientists could not readily acquire the quantities required by a reactor. At
Trail
Cominco's president, Selwyn G. Blaylock, was cautious. There might be no post-war demand for heavy water, and the patent on the process was held by Albert Edgar Knowles, so a profit-sharing agreement would be required. In response, Taylor offered up $20,000 for plant modifications.[6][8] There the matter rested until 6 December 1941, when Blaylock had a meeting with the British physicist G. I. Higson, who informed him that Taylor had become discouraged with Cominco, and had decided to find an alternative source of heavy water. Blaylock invited Taylor to visit Trail, which he did from 5 to 8 January 1942. The two soon found common ground. Blaylock agreed to produce heavy water at Trail, and quickly secured approval from the chairman of the board, Sir Edward Beatty. A contract was signed on 1 August 1942.[6]
To the existing $10 million plant consisting of 3,215 cells consuming 75 MW of hydroelectric power, secondary electrolysis cells were added to increase the deuterium concentration in the water from 2.3% to 99.8%. For this process, Taylor developed a platinum-on-carbon
Production rose steadily from 15 pounds (6.8 kg) in June 1943 to 326 pounds (148 kg) in January 1944, 1,055 pounds (479 kg) in January 1945 and 1,305 pounds (592 kg) in January 1946.[12] The running cost of the plant averaged $32,979 per month over the period from June 1943 to December 1946,[13] when the Manhattan Project was replaced by the Atomic Energy Commission.[14] This worked out to $39 per pound.[13] Trail's heavy water production continued until 1956.[10]
American sites
The Director of the Manhattan Project,
Groves therefore authorized DuPont to establish additional heavy water facilities at the Morgantown Ordnance Works, near
Morgantown
The Morgantown Ordnance Works (MOW) began as an 826-acre (334 ha) chemical production facility operated by DuPont during the Second World War, with construction on the main facility starting in the summer of 1940.
The electrolytic finishing plant was established at Morgantown because that plant was under the control of DuPont's Ammonia Division. At this plant the output from the distillation plants, which was about 90% heavy water, was broken down by electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen. The light hydrogen tends to be drawn off first, leaving the heavy water behind. This process was repeated through several stages to yield a finished product that was 99.75% heavy water.[22] After the water reached a concentration of 99.75%, the heavy water was then transported by rail to the University of Chicago where it was used as a potential moderator for the first nuclear reactors constructed in the United States.[20]
Following the end of the war, DuPont ended their operations at the MOW and the site was leased to various chemical companies until the early 1950s before standing vacant until 1962 when the area was purchased from the United States General Services Administration for the price of $1.25 million by the Morgantown Community Association. The property was then conveyed to the newly created Morgantown Ordnance Works, Inc., owned by local industrialist J.W. Ruby, who began converting the site into an industrial park.[19] In 1984, part of the site was formally proposed to be added to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund National Priorities List and was added to the list two years later in 1986. Remedy construction began in 2001 and included the consolidation of contaminated materials into an on-site landfill which was covered with a multi-layer cap. The remedy also included long-term monitoring and institutional controls and was completed in 2003.[23] On 21 August 2018, the EPA removed the Ordnance Works Disposal Areas from the Superfund National Priorities List along with eight other sites.[24]
Wabash
Construction commenced on 23 January 1943, and was substantially completed on 22 October. Stages of the P-9 distillation plant became operational between 17 June and 18 September 1943. Total cost was $7,493,157, including DuPont's fee of $152,472, which was voluntarily reduced from $272,776 because the plant was constructed for substantially less than the allocated $13,665,000.[25]
Alabama
Construction commenced on 11 February 1943, and was completed on 15 November. Stages of the P-9 distillation plant became operational between 29 May and 4 September 1943. Total cost was $3,466,171, including DuPont's fee of $70,368, which was voluntarily reduced from $184,680 because the plant was constructed for substantially less than the allocated $8,285,000.[26]
Production
The three American plants never achieved the intended production of 4,800 pounds (2,200 kg) per month. A series of suggestions for improving production was considered, and the most promising were carried out. The most successful of these was the reconstruction of the first stage towers at Morgantown to reduce leakage, which resulted in a considerable improvement in performance. However, by this time, early 1945, it was decided that production was sufficient, and the expense of doing this at the other plants could not be justified.[27]
The P-9 distillation plant at Alabama was closed in June 1945, that at Wabash in July, and the one at Morgantown in August. The electrolytic finishing plant at Morgantown was closed in September. Intermediate product remaining when the plants were closed was sent to Trail. This resulted in approximately 1,600 pounds (730 kg) of extra production at Trail. Between February 1944 and August 1945, the electrolytic finishing plant at Morgantown, which finished the product for all three plants, produced an average of 2,277 pounds (1,033 kg) per month, for a total of 43,253 pounds (19,619 kg).[27]
The electrolytic finishing plant also processed 3,151 pounds (1,429 kg) from heavy water recovered from Germany by the Manhattan Project's Alsos Mission.[27] The average monthly production cost was $72,000 for Morgantown, $154,000 at Alabama and $197,400 at Wabash, for a total of $423,400. Thus, heavy water cost $186 per pound, excluding the $11,967,000 cost of the plants. If this is included, it cost $550 per pound, compared to $111 per pound at Trail.[28]
Intermediate product was shipped from Wabash and Alabama by rail in sealed metal containers. The finished product was shipped by rail from Morgantown via the
Demand for heavy water increased in the early 1950s.
Notes
- ^ Waltham 2002, p. 2.
- .
- .
- ^ a b Waltham 2002, p. 6.
- ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 66–67.
- ^ ISSN 0005-2949. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ^ a b Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 107–112.
- ^ U.S. patent 2,044,704
- ^ a b Manhattan District 1947, pp. 4.7–4.9.
- ^ a b c Waltham 2002, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, pp. 3.3–3.6.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, p. 5.5.1.
- ^ a b Manhattan District 1947, p. 5.10.
- ^ Jones 1985, p. 600.
- ^ a b Jones 1985, pp. 107–108.
- ^ a b Hewlett & Duncan 1969, pp. 428–429.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, p. S3.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, p. 2.13.
- ^ a b Core 1984, p. 496–497.
- ^ a b Manhattan District 1947, p. 5.32.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, pp. 4.10–4.9.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, pp. 3.18–3.21.
- ^ "Ordnance Works Disposal Areas Morgantown, WV". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Seneca, Roy (23 August 2018). "EPA removes site in Morgantown, W. Va. from Superfund National Priorities List". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, pp. 4.16–4.21.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, pp. 4.22–4.24.
- ^ a b c Manhattan District 1947, pp. S17–S18.
- ^ a b Manhattan District 1947, pp. S18–S20.
- ^ Manhattan District 1947, pp. 3.1, 3.12.
- ^ "Historic Properties Report – Newport Army Ammunition Plant" (PDF). August 1984. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ^ J. W. (Bill) Morris, William P. Bebbington, Robert G. Garvin, Mal C. Schroder, and W. C. Scotten. "Heavy Water for the Savannah River Site" (PDF). Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "An Atomic History – Chapter 13: Reactors, Fuels, and Power Ascension (1955–1963)" (PDF). Savannah River Site. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
References
- Core, Earl L. (1984). The Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History. Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Company. OCLC 1217546.
- OCLC 637004643. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
- Hewlett, Richard G.; Duncan, Francis (1969). Atomic Shield, 1947–1952. A History of the United States Atomic Energy Commission. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. OCLC 3717478.
- Jones, Vincent (1985). Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb (PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. OCLC 10913875. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- Manhattan District (1947). The P-9 Project (PDF). Washington, DC: United States Department of Energy. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- Waltham, Chris (20 June 2002). An Early History of Heavy Water. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia. arXiv:physics/0206076.