NEW CHEMICAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 August 1940, Page 3

NEW CHEMICAL

IMMENSE POWER OUTPUT STEAM ENERGY. APPROACHED TO PERPETUAL MOTION. Laboratory isolation of a new chemical substance, one pound of which is said to be capable of yielding the power output of 5,000,000 pounds of coal or 3,000.000 gallons of gasoline, was described recently by the "New York Times." The "Times" said that the discovery announced in the current issue of the “Physical Review." a technical publication, has been hailed by leading technicians as holding the promise of revolutionising all present methods of power production and ushering in the era of atomic power. The substance was identified as “U--235.” an isotype or chemical twin of ordinary uranium, which when simply immersed in cool water releases its energy in a form usable by man — steam. A chunk of five to 10 pounds of the substance, plentifully' available in many parts of the earth, would drive a battleship or seagoing submarine around the oceans of the world for an indefinite period without refuelling, it was said. NAZIS AFTER IT, The Nazi Government had heard of American research in this field and had ordered its greatest scientists to concentrate on the problem of irnnroving the method of extracting the U-235, one pound of which was said to have the explosive force of 15,000 tons of TNT. "Every German scientist in this field, physicists, chemists and engineers . . . have been ordered to drop .-ill other researches and devote themselves to this work alone," the “Times" said. “All these research workers . . . are carrying on their tasks feverishly at the laboratories of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute at Berlin." The substance of U-235 has been known for some time, but its power potentialities were first suspected within the last three months, since a minute fraction of a gram was isolated in February at the University of Minnesota physics department, under the direction of Prof. Alfred O. Nier. This sample was rushed to Columbia University, where Prof. R. Dunning subjected it to tests with a 150ton cyclotron or atom-smasher'. | The report in the Physical Review; said that since then the yield had been increased 200-fold, raising the hope that a process for isolating the substance in large quantities would soon be found. SEEK COMMERCIAL QUANTITY. The Physical Review said that industrial laboratories were joining in the attack and that General Electric Company researchers had separated relatively large sample of U-235 and confirmed the results achieved by Columbia and Minnesota Universities. “New plans are being made to Isolate the substance on a practical scale, but the plans and the designs for these will be Jcept a secret to be given only io the United States Government, to do with as if sees fit." the “Times" said. Describing the action of U-235 which | is made by splitting the uranium, atom and producing a nonstable, exploding atom, the paper continued: — “Left by itself the substance would be inactive. As soon as ii touches wa-l ter of ordinary' temperature it wouldi automatically start to liberate its en-' ergy. "The water would be turned to steam ! and the steam would drive powerful turbines. The new water supplied | would keep the process going inciefin- j itely. To stop if, all that yvould be ne-| cessary yvould be to cut off the water supply. “Thus the process yvould be the nearest practical approach to a form of perpetual motion for as long as the U-235 is supplied with water it would I keep on liberating its energy until it is exhausted/’