Caption
Dr. David A. Keys, Scientific Advisor to the President on Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, and Gordon Hatfield, Works Manager of Industrial Operations, examine a model of Chalk River's NRX reactor. Pilot power reactor will be built by AECL in conjunction with Canadian utility companies.
Date
May 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB73234
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176040
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Aluminum container hold thirty grams of cobalt pellets, which, when converted to the radioactive isotope Cobalt-60 in the NRX reactor, will be used in the beam therapy unit. Cobalt therapy unit is one of atomic energy's major contributions to medicine in the fight against malignant cancer cells.
Date
May 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB73237
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176041
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
NRU reactor, shown here under construction, is scheduled to go into operation next year. Major project at Chalk River is to utilize heat released in reactors. A.E.C.L., in co-operation with Ontario Hydro Electric Power Commission and Canadian General Electric Company Limited, will build prototype atomic power station capable of producing 20,000 kilowatts. Though pilot plant will not produce electric power at competitive costs, it will give valuable information in the design, operation and cost of using atomic energy in power stations. Target is to produce power at cost of 5 to 6 mills per kilowatt.
Date
May 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB73241
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176042
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
A technician at a research lab at Chalk River wears full protective clothing, including an air supply mask, while handling toxic plutonium alloy. The material is handled in a "drybox" (left) but protective clothing is worn to prevent inhalation of any particle which might escape. The plutonium is dangerous only if it enters the body, Chalk River's newest research tool, the NRU reactor, to be completed in 1956, will produce significant quantities of plutonium. NRU will supplement existing NRX and ZEEP reactors.
Date
May 1, 1955
Accession Number
LAC-NFB73343
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176048
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Photostory #17: From Canadian Research: Atomic Power for Industry
Photographers
Maker
National Film Board Photos by Chris Lund
Release Date
July 12, 1955
Collection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Main Text
The tremendous forces imprisoned within the atom hold potential power for both destructive and beneficial action. Canada, possessor of one of the world's "hottest" nuclear reactors, is using her atomic know-how to open new horizons in the peacetime applications of nuclear energy and radioactive isotopes._x000B__x000B_The tiny bullets of radioactivity produced by the reactors of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, at Chalk River, Ontario, create new tools for industry, agriculture, and medicine. When ordinary substances such as iodine, salt and cobalt are subjected to the intense bombardment of neutrons in the concrete shielded NRX reactor, they are converted to radioactive isotopes which have wide applications in studies of disease, plant growth, and in the detection of hidden flaws in machines, tanks and castings._x000B__x000B_The most glamorous contribution of Canadian atomic energy to medicine has been the cobalt beam therapy unit, which has stolen the limelight from radium as a destroyer of cancer cells._x000B__x000B_Canadian industry has learned to harness the invisible rays of isotopes to contribute to more efficient production; Isotopes now help to control quality in paper manufacturing and to search out minute impurities in chemicals. And the list of new uses for isotopes in industry and agriculture is growing almost daily._x000B__x000B_Today, with an expanded research program and the new NRU reactor scheduled to go into operation in 1956, Chalk River's atomic scientists in collaboration with Ontario Hydro and Canadian General Electric, are going ahead on a project to build the nation's first pilot atomic power plant at Des Joachims. When completed in 1958, the prototype power reactor known as NPD -- Nuclear Power Demonstration -- will have a prospective power output of 10,000 to 20,000 kilowatts electric._x000B__x000B_To power planners, already hard pressed to meet the needs of Canada's rapidly-expanding industry, atomic energy may be the key to supplying demands where new hydro sites or conventional fuels are not available.
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