w w ww 4 W, 1 .1 - - - - - - I www"" - 7v- -mw- -- ! -Ilvp_;,_ REACTOR Continued from Page 7 is impossible. "I don't have such nightmares," Cook said. His biggest worry is a possible release of radioactive material within the building, though even then, "there is no place with a danger of fatal exposure." But the the Ford has not escaped its share of controversy. In May 1979, about two ounces of containment water were spilled on operator. The water was quickly washed off and the incident was investigated by the NRC only because someone reported it to the agency. According to Cook, such an incident happens occasionally, about twice a year, but it is not unusual and the radiation level was far below the NRC's official contamination standards. "With people handling radioactive material it's not suprising that someone drops something once in a while," Cook said. Everyday, samples are taken off floors, doorknobs, even telephones - any place someone who might inadvertantly pick up radioactive material and spread it around. Usually when a spill happens, however, the person responsible knows it and cleans it up. "He who makes the mess cleans it up," Cook said. The Ford has also been the target of anti-nuclear activists. In March 1980, the first anniversary of the incident at Three Mile Island, 70 protesters marched from downtown Ann Arbor to the Phoenix building. They demanded the University shut the reactor down and launched hundreds of black balloons - symbolic of death and disease - with notes saying it could have been radioactivity, and not a balloon, that fell to earth. Cook said he thought the protest came because the Ford symbolized the dangers of nuclear power, and not because they saw a danger with the Ford itself. Local activists are concerned about the Ford and all nuclear reactors. Tamara Wagner, the Michigan Student Assembly's military research advisor and a member of the environmentalist group Greenpeace, said the Ford symbolizes this country's misplaced priorities. "I would like to see this country direct its resources into other areas of energy," Wagner said. "I think nuclear power has a lot of potential, but in this experimental stage, I don't think we should mess with it." In January 1981, Greenpeace recruited more than 50 volunteers to post nearby highways with official- looking warnings of "a marked increase in shipments of radioactive waste" along the route to a nuclear waste dumping site in Kentucky, where some of the waste from Phoenix used to be taken. The signs were a hoax, though concerns about the shipping of nuclear waste eventually led State Rep. Perry Bullard (D-Ann Arbor) to propose legislation forbidding the shipment of nuclear waste through Michigan. All waste from the reactor is now stored in the state of Washington, shipped there by truck. According to John Jones, director of the University's Radiation Control Services, the waste from the Ford accounts for less than three percent of the University's solid nuclear waste, while the medical center produces more than 90 percent. The reactor was most recently in the news when Theodore Taylor, a 208 S. First, Aim Arbor 996-8555 This Week at The Blind Pig: Feb 6-7 DOMINO 8 WOMEN'S NITE 9 COLORS plus THE JUNK MONKEYS 10 THE FOLKMINERS featuring SAM LAPIDES 11 THE DIFFERENCE 12 GEORGE BEDARD and THE KINGPINS Drink Specials Every MON $1 SHOTS TUE $3 BEER PITCHERS WED $2 MARGARITA MUGS THU $1 WATERMELONS "Hunan Garden reaps the rewards of fine preparation." from Detroit Free Press, March 21, 1986 H UN AN GA R DE N'y t Specilbingin Hunan, SechuenM&Mandain Cumin. " DAILY SPECIALS SUNDAY BUFFET "All You Can Eat" 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. * BANUET Only $6.99, Children 3-10 $3.50 under 3 free FACILITIES Bring your church bulletin & receive 10% off MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED Open Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. 2M0 WASHTENAW " PHONE 434-4399 (across from K-Mart & Wayside Theater) Nuclear Engineering Prof. John King plots results from a xenon transfer experiment last week. researcher at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and a member of the commission that investigated the incident at Three Mile Island, told the NRC in 1984 that, the highly-enriched uranium fuel used at the Ford and 22 other university reactors in the United States could be used by terrorists to build nuclear weapons. Taylor said security procedures at the university sites were inadequate to stop determined terrorists. Phoenix project Director William Kerr said the reactor didn't use the "strategic" amounts of high- grade fuel needed to build weapons. "It would have taken ten times the amount of fresh fuel we're allowed to have on hand to make a bomb," Reactor Manager Bob Burn said at the time. Uranium 235, loaned to the University free of charge by the U.S. Department of Energy, is the single substance needed to fuel and maintain the nuclear reaction. Project officials decided to switch to a lower grade of uranium because tighter security - which could have included barbed wire fences and armed security guards - would have made the building inaccessible to students. Security is still tight, however. While tours are available on business days when the reactor is operating, visitors must always be escorted and wear green identification badges. Even a reactor operator, stopping at the office briefly, was checked to make sure . his wife and two small children had visitor's badges. But for all the work that occurs, it seems the Ford gets the most attention when something in the nuclear industry goes wrong. During the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl crises, local reporters called asking what happened and "Could it happen here?" The answer to that question, Cook said, is no, but he is glad for the attention. "I certainly hope they will always use us as a source of information," he said. Director Kerr believes the bad press the nuclear industry has been getting will not soon diminish the Ford's usefulness. "The nuclear utility industry last year produced about 16 percent of the energy in this country," Kerr said. And though he "would be very suprised if any new plants were built in the next 10 years," he said there will be a continuing demand for people to run the plants already in existence. The new generation of particle accelerators - like the 52-mile in circumference ring being planned by the federal government - are not a threat to the Ford's practicality. "That sort of activity is used by high-energy physicists who study what makes up the universe," Kerr said. "You need something like a research reactor to bridge the gap between theory and application. That kind of research that's likely to be carried on with (the Ford) is much more likely to contribute something to human needs." U Ask one of the 3 million Americans who've survived cancer, if the money spent on research is worth it. We are winning. Please support the AMERICAN 'CANCER iSOClY* VOLUME 5, NO. 15 M A G A Z I N E 0 Ulli Mlticigan 1Baitg -QN MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE ~a nCOMPANY KIRi TE KANAWA "One of the world's most lustrous voices; superbly focused, accurate, agile, beautifully musical." The Washington Post. Fri., Feb. 6: Diversion of Angels, Denishawn/Graham Solos, "Temptations of the Moon", The Rite of Spring. Sat., Feb. 7: Plain of Prayer, Cave of the Heart, "Acts of Light". Sun., Feb. 8: Appalachian Spring, "Temptations of the Moon", The Rite of Spring. Tickets: $18, 17, 16, 15. Fri. & Sat. 8pm, Sun. at 3pm, Power C Tickets: $22, 21, 16, 12, 10. Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 8pm, Hill Auditorium $5.00 RUSH TICKETS sold Tues., Feb. 10 at Burton Memorial Tower from 9:00 to 4:30. Limit of two per person; seating at the discretion of the Musical Society. Availability limited to 200; Choral Union series concerts only. : . Plus: 'Radio Days' Interview: Greg Marks, computer specia I WEEKEND/FEBRUARY 6, '1987 PAGE 12 WEEKEND/ FEBRUARY 6,19$7 PAGE,12