RADIOACTIVE WASTES IN A POWER PROGRAM” 
E. G. Struxness - Health Physics Division 
Oak Ridge National Laboratory 
Electric Power Expansion in the United States. 
To arrive at an estimate of the quantity of waste radioactivity 
which may be of concern to us in the future, a logical idea would be 
to incorporate power reactors in the electrical industry's future 
expansion. Putnam, Briggs, Starr, Thompson and others have estimated 
future electric power requirements of the United States. An orderly, 
constant increase has been predicted to the year 2000 A.D., of about 
6.5 to9 x 10? kw generating capacity.** 
Power Reactors in the Program: it is necessary to make certain 
assumptions to fit power reactors in the electric power program. First, 
assume that the reactors will generate about 10% of the power increase. 
Next, assume that the reactors will provide 1000 megawatts of heat 
per day with about 450 megawatts available for electric power. There 
will be 10 reactors to a power station and about 200 stations around 
the country. 
The hypothetical reactors are of the aqueous, homogeneous, 
thorium breeder type having its fuel circulating constantly and con- 
stantly processed to remove fission products. Of the 450 megawatts 
*Based on a paper by Emerson, Straub and Struxness of the Oak Ridge 
National Laboratory, Dated July 15, 1954, 
**This is a 6500 to 9000% increase in the 1954 installed generating 
capacity in the U.S. It is the opinion of the Johns Hopkins group 
that this estimate is too high by at least one order of magnitude. 
If the U.S. population doubles by the year 2000 A.D. and if the 
per capita consumption of electricity trebles during this period, 
the increase would be about 600% in KWH consumed, Estimates made by 
the Hopkins group are, therefore, about one tenth those presented 
here, -35- 
