Bret Kugelmass: What is the relationship between the commercial sector, the nuclear industry, and the government? James Stubbins: James Stubbins’ program at GE was purely research-based, at a time in which the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) managed nuclear research while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulated commercial nuclear power. ERDA was one of the organizations that later formed the Department of Energy. General Atomics developed the Fort Saint Vrain Reactor, a gas-cooled reactor in Colorado. The design was based on the Peach Bottom Reactor, but to a scale ten times larger, which created many unintended design challenges. Higher flow rates and a much larger core caused the core to shake, requiring a stabilization girdle. Since the reactor was built in Colorado, where there are no rivers to use for heat sync, a high temperature reactor which exchanges waste heat to air could be used. In nuclear plant turbines, the heat from the reactor increases the pressure of the gas, allowing it to be run through a turbine to extract energy. Fort Saint Vrain was running a steam cycle with the goal of using it for an efficient energy conversion cycle, such as from coal or iron ore.
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