National Nuclear Science Week

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is excited to be the founding organization for a new event called National Nuclear Science Week. This week-long celebration will take place January 25-29, 2010.

National Nuclear Science Week will focus local, regional and national interest on all aspects of nuclear science. Each day will provide for learning about the contributions, innovations and opportunities that can be found by exploring nuclear science. Activities for the week will include focus areas in education, nuclear medicine and radiology, energy generation, safety, and careers.

Tools and ideas to encourage activities will be provided online as well as other materials for distribution, education and celebration. Watch for the new website, www.NuclearScienceWeek.org, as January approaches.

Kids Salute to Military Heroes

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History will celebrate Veteran’s Day on Sunday, November 15, 2009, with stories of service and multiple family activities.

The Museum will host the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The focus of the day is to encourage citizens to recognize the many contributions of military members with an effort called “Kids Salute to Military Heroes.” Whether a service member served on a flight deck in the 1960s or just returned from Afghanistan, the Museum will honor the service made by this important community. An additional highlight of the day will be a car show featuring classic cars and military vehicles.

“Our veterans and service personnel have given of themselves many times over,” said Jim Walther, Director of the Museum. “Our day will give the community an opportunity to commemorate that inspirational service as well as give young people a chance to learn about the military from someone who has served. And everyone can enjoy some great vehicles from by-gone eras.”

“Kids Salute to Military Heroes” is an effort to encourage young people to write stories about veterans and members of the military. Those profiles will then be shared with visitors at the Museum throughout the day and their young authors will be recognized in an afternoon ceremony. Youngsters who wish to participate should download, print, and complete the Veteran Profile form and bring it to the Museum on November 15, where they will receive free admission for their effort. To download the form visit this link on our website: www.nuclearmuseum.org and look under "Kids Salute to Military Heroes." Veterans and active military personnel will all receive free admission to the Museum that day upon showing their veteran or military identification or documentation of service.

The Veteran’s History Project, a Library of Congress project, will also be represented at the Museum. The mission of the project is to “collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.”

The day will also prove of interest to car buffs. Classic cars (those before 1973; many models from the 1930s and 1940s) and distinctive military vehicles will be on display on the 12-acre site.

The Museum has received support from Kaufman’s West Army and Navy Goods for the Kids Salute to Military Heroes; they will be donating uniforms from several branches of the military so that kids can try on a uniform.

While the activities of the day are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Meet the Authors

Author Event: The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation

October 18, 2009

Authors Thomas C. Reed and Danny B. Stillman will speak about the proliferation of nuclear weapon technology over the last seventy years: where the technology came from, how it spread, who is likely to seek such weapons next and why. They will also offer an insight into the successes that have precluded the “dozens of nuclear weapon states” feared by John Kennedy when he first came to power a half century ago.

Reed is a former Secretary of the Air Force and nuclear weapon designer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Stillman worked at Los Alamos as a physicist; for fourteen years he served as chief of the Technical Intelligence Division.

Richard Rhodes found Nuclear Express to be “loaded with new information and insights; a fascinating read.”

The Reed & Stillman talk will be followed by a reception and book signing at 601 Eubank Blvd SE. Admission is $10 for Museum members, $15 for nonmembers.

40th Anniversary "SNAP"shot

This article is a continuation of "40th Anniversary 'SNAP'shot" from the Museum's Fall Newsletter and gives a look at the interesting device called a SNAP (Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power).

By Sarah Fair, curator

On January 16, 1959, a device that turned heat created from radioactivity into electricity was demonstrated for the first time on President Eisenhower’s desk. It was the size of a grapefruit, weighed 4 pounds and was capable of delivering 11,600 watt-hours for approximately 280 days. This device was called the SNAP-3. Two SNAP models will be on display in the Museum’s 40th Anniversary Exhibit. These models are an important part of the Museum’s collection and show how the Museum broadened its nuclear history and science horizons beyond weapons and into other nuclear technology uses.

The United States Atomic Energy Commission began developing a series of compact devices to supply power for space and terrestrial uses. These devices fell under the general title of Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP). There were two different SNAP systems developed; both convert heat to electricity. In even-numbered SNAPs, heat is obtained from a small nuclear reactor. SNAP-10A, the first SNAP reactor power plant launched into space in 1965, is an example of that system. In odd-numbered SNAPs, the heat is obtained from the decay of certain radioisotopes such as Plutonium-238 (in the SNAP-27) and Polonium-210 (in the SNAP-29).

The early efforts on the SNAP began in 1956 with the objective of powering instruments in space satellites. By 1963, two satellites powered by SNAPs were already in orbit.

The SNAP-1 was a small turboelectric generator with high-speed rotating components to convert heat into electricity. It was abandoned for thermoelectric devices, which had no moving parts and a longer lifespan than SNAP-1, with its two-month life expectancy. Work began to develop a new and more efficient thermoelectric and thermionic conversion units for use with a radioisotope heat source.

The SNAP-3 generator was assembled and tested in January 1959. It was a success because it generated 2.5 watts of electricity with a half charge of Polonium-210 fuel. This radioisotope system was selected for several reasons. It provided a concentrated heat source, was readily available, and was safe to handle. Because of the SNAP-3’s success, work began on generators to power satellites, moon probes, automatic weather stations, and navigational aids.

Satellites need dependable, long-lived electrical supply. They also need to be lightweight because pounds are precious in payloads rocketing into space. They must withstand the rigors of a ride on a rocket. The generator must also be safe, that in the event of an accident there will be no serious consequences from radioactive contamination. The SNAP-3A was used in 1961 in the U.S. space program for the orbiting of a Department of Defense satellite. It used a radioisotope generator with a supplementary electricity source for its radio transmitters and was the first use of atomic power in space

The SNAP-27 was developed for use by NASA in lunar landing missions and was designed to power the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP). Five SNAP-27 units provided electric power to ALSEP and were left on the moon by Apollo 12, 14,15, 16, and 17. The SNAP-27 from Apollo 13 is 20,000 feet under water in the Pacific Ocean. The systems transmitted information about moonquakes and meteor impacts, lunar magnetic and gravitational fields, the moon’s internal temperature, and the moon’s atmosphere for several years after the missions. Even after 10 years a SNAP-27 still produces more than 90% of its 70-watt output.

Visit the Museum on October 17, 2009 to see models of the SNAP-27 and SNAP-29 on display in the Museum’s new 40th Anniversary Exhibit. Check out the Museum’s website, www.nuclearmuseum.org, for more info about the new exhibit.

Congrats to Our Ad Agency!

The science and art of branding a museum takes real expertise. The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is pleased and proud to have found imminent assistance in this through our New Mexico agency, 3 Advertising.

Our congratulations go to the gang at 3 for their award-winning work -- they are now the proud owners of several ADDY awards:

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY Awards are the world's largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. The Albuquerque ad agency won one gold and two silver awards.

The Museum's brand is more than a stunning logo and catching creative -- it's what we do day in and day out to reinforce our role in the community. As the only nuclear museum chartered by the US Congress, and as a Smithsonian affiliate, we have big shoes to fill. And we appreciate the aid our partners contribute.

Jeanette Miller, Director of Marketing and PR, holds the ADDYs won by the Museum's advertising agency. Congratulations to 3 Advertising!

Review of "Terrestrial Energy" by William Tucker

Mr. Harmon is a friend of the museum and offered to read and review "Terrestrial Energy," by William Tucker, for us. Hope you enjoy!

“Terrestrial Energy” by William Tucker:

After years of research and failed attempts to get his book published, William Tucker has finally provided the general public with an easily understood overview of the entire energy picture including the familiar sources of energy from fossil and nuclear, as well as the more innovative alternative sources of energy including renewable and solar. He presents two basic premises: 1) As long as we continue burning fossil fuels, there is the possibility we may be modifying the earth’s climate that could bring wrenching and irreversible changes; and 2) the only way we are going to supply ourselves with enough energy while reducing our carbon emissions is through a revival of nuclear power. These premises are seldom, if ever, presented in a common text; however, the small but growing number of public figures willing to embrace these two premises include one of the Cofounders and former Director of Greenpeace (Patrick Moore) and a former Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (Christie Whitman). During his presentation at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History Einstein Gala last spring, Patrick Moore presented his reasons for converting from an avid opponent to nuclear power to one who embraces it as an appropriate technology for one our future energy sources.

Mr. Tucker, a veteran journalist who has been writing about energy and the environment for over thirty years, is supportive of nuclear energy, but recognizes that the future requires contributions from all sources of energy and candidly discusses the benefits and limitations of them all in his most recent publication. One of these limitations, common to most renewable sources of energy, is the vast amount of land mass required for their support and the fact that most of these sources are only available when they are exposed to the wind or sun. As Patrick Moore expressed during his presentation last spring, irrespective of the amount of energy produced by alternative energies, reliability of their energy supply requires that an alternative source of equal size must be available to replace that energy when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.

Mr. Tucker’s text clearly demonstrates that solar and renewable energy sources are limited to potentially satisfying our peak power demands in circumstances where that demand is concurrent with availability of the energy source. Efficient use of these intermittently available energy sources requires significant energy storage capabilities that are not yet available and will require a large life-cycle carbon footprint associated with their development, manufacturing, and maintenance processes. These intermittent energy sources will not be capable of contributing to the base power load of this country in the foreseeable future. That role is essentially limited to the large power generating stations that use a combination of fossil and nuclear energy sources to generate the thermal energy necessary to provide large quantities of steam to their turbine generating systems. While a proponent of nuclear energy, he also recognizes that it is not the only answer. Rather, it is a necessary component of the mixture of energy sources available for this country’s journey into the future.

“Terrestrial Energy” discusses each energy source’s benefits and limitations in an organized manner starting with the fossil fuels including coal, oil, and natural gas and then discussing solar and renewable energy sources including hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, waves, biofuels, and hydrogen. His final section is reserved for a thorough discussion of nuclear energy including a reasonable overview of the accidents at both Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, the current renaissance including the public’s resistance to nuclear, and the eventual necessity of closing the fuel cycle with some form of reprocessing rather than indefinite retrievable storage in some repository whether is it is located at Yucca Mountain or another acceptable location. This comprehensive presentation of our current and future energy situation a good companion text to “A Brighter Tomorrow: Fulfilling the Promise of Nuclear Energy” written by our former Senator Pete Domenici and published in early 2007. Terrestrial Energy is a must read for anyone interested in what direction our nation is heading in its search for a sound and comprehensive energy policy.

Charles D. Harmon
Immediate Past Chair
American Nuclear Society Trinity Section

two months and standing tall

We've made it through opening. We've survived our first 60 days. Now we are into our first week of Science is Everywhere Summer Camp in the new building. With three brand new classrooms to fill and tons of opportunity, we have drastically expanded the camp offerings for this summer. (NOTE: WE STILL HAVE SOME OPEN SPACES!)

Aside from the education staff, those of us with offices that share walls with the beautiful new restrooms seem to notice the increase in kids the most. Just moments ago a gaggle of joyous kids in the Robotics class took a restroom break. I know because I heard them happily bouncing through the restroom, then holler their way back to their classroom to continue working on today's robotic challenge. It's hard to be annoyed at these little disturbances when you know how much fun they are having.

Through the summer, we are also planning our first rotating exhibit for our new temporary exhibit hall. We have something up our sleeves that we are really looking forward to. Check back for hints and details!

We are finally jumping feet first into each section of the internet piece by piece. The Museum can now be found on TWITTER! You are invited to follow us and see what the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History has to "tweet" about!