In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the United States Atomic Energy Commission released at least six records : three volumes entitled Let’s Talk About the Atom, one entitled Let’s Talk About Energy, one entitled Atomic Year 25, and one entitled Century of the Atom. The last–named was given away to visitors to the US display at the 1971 Geneva “Atoms for Development” conference. The other five were intended for broadcast on radio stations as public–affairs programming.
Atomic Year 25 is a single half–hour program, commemorating the anniversary of the first controlled fission chain reaction (2 December 1942), whereas the Let’s Talk… records are 3–LP sets, each with two 10–minute programs per side. The general format of the Let’s Talk… programs is that an announcer (credited on this release as John Flynn) introduces Ed Ronne of Argonne National Laboratory, who then interviews an eminent scientist employed by the USAEC about his specialty.
I have been making an attempt to acquire these records (and whatever similar ones may exist), as I have with atomic energy public information films, and printed materials of similar character. As I acquire and transcribe them, I will have them available for use as “fillers” in my aNONradio shows.
Programs
- Conserving Our Energy ― S David Freeman, Project Director, The Energy Policy Project of the Ford Foundation, Washington, DC
Mr Freeman looks at ways all of us have misused and wasted energy resources and offers some expert advice on how we might better use and conserve them in the future. - Energy for the Future ― Dr John Gibbons, Director, Office of Energy Conservation, US Department of the Interior
Are we running out of energy? If we are… what can we do about it? Can we rely on dwindling supplies of coal, oil, and natural gas, or must we look to other sources for future energy needs? Dr Gibbons discusses some of our options as we plan for tomorrow’s energy. - The Peak Power Problem and Energy Storage ― Harold Falkenberry, Chief, Power Research Staff, Tennessee Valley Authority
As we use electrical power, we create peaks and valleys in energy consumption. In the morning and early evening hours we consume quantities sometimes beyond our energy–producing capacity. Mr Falkenberry talks about economical new techniques for making power available to meet daily and seasonal peak period demands. - Get Up and Go… Transportation ― Dr Thomas Wolsko, Center for Environmental Studies, Argonne National Laboratory, USAEC
If our energy crisis continues, will our long–standing urge to travel… when and where we choose… be blocked by shortages of gasoline and other fuels? Dr Wolsko discusses some alternatives and suggests the possibility of change in our life styles. - Energy from the Sun ― Dr Robert Stromberg, Sandia Laboratories (USAEC), Albuquerque, New Mexico
In one day the Sun pours more energy onto the surface of Lake Erie than all the energy consumed in the United States over the same 24–hour period. Can we use this “sun–power” to help meet our growing energy needs? Dr Stromberg thinks eventually we can. He discusses a concept he calls the “solar community”. - Energy in the Earth’s Crust ― Dr L J Patrick Muffler, United States Geological Survey Laboratories, Menlo Park, California
Can we tap our vast store of geothermal energy… enormous supplies of steam and hot water more than a mile below the Earth’s surface? Dr Muffler tells how and where this energy is used today. He also reports on a new geothermal energy project under way at AEC’s Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico. - New Sources of Gas for Fuel ― Dr Glenn Werth, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (USAEC), University of California
As supplies of natural gas dwindle, experiments are under way to test whether we can extract more of this cheap, environmentally clean fuel from sources normally inaccessible. Dr Werth talks about nuclear stimulation and how it is used to free natural gas from rock formations deep within the Earth. - Nuclear Power… Where do we Go from Here? ― Professor Manson Benedict, Nuclear Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
We have been producing electricity by means of nuclear energy for nearly 20 years. But… what of the next 20 years and beyond? Professor Benedict, winner of the AEC’s Enrico Fermi Award, assesses nuclear power and the role it will play in our future. - Energy and the Environment ― Dr Jeff Swinebroad, Assistant Director for Regulator Liaison, Division of Biomedical and Environmental Research, USAEC
If we hope to keep abreast of future energy needs, we must be sure that energy will be available in ever–increasing quantities and… most important… that it will be produced with minimum impact on the environment. Dr Swinebroad evaluates the environmental effects of old and new ways of making power and takes a special look at nuclear power plants. - Cold Power ― Dr Hugh Long, Group Leader, Thermonuclear Division, ORNL
Superconducting power lines offer us a new way to get more energy for our money. To make them work, we refrigerate them at extremely low temperatures. Dr Long tells us about superconductors and recent research in the field of “cold power”. - Breeding a New Fuel for Power ― Thomas A Nemzek, Director, Division of Reactor Research and Development, USAEC
It sounds too good to be true… a nuclear power plant that produces more fuel than it consumes. President Nixon has called the breeder reactor “the nation’s highest priority energy program”. - Fusion Power ― Dr Robert L Hirsch, Director, Division of Controlled Thermonuclear Research, USAEC
If man could, somehow, produce energy as the Sun and stars do… he would have almost perfect energy. His fuel supply would be inexhaustible, environmentally clean, and almost without cost. Dr Hirsch describes thermonuclear fusion… a power–making technique that will use fuel taken from the world’s seas and waterways.
