Dr. Charles Till
Biography:
Dr. Charles Till was an engineer and a physicist when he left Canada to finish his technical education at the Imperial College, University of London. When he returned to Canada, he was given the job of starting up the first Canadian power reactor. He was just 26, and fresh out of school. Two years later, he accepted a position at Argonne National laboratory out of Chicago, where civilian reactor development for the US was then concentrated. He is retired now, but for almost twenty years he led a large research and development program at one of our nation's great National Laboratories.
His goal was nothing less than to develop a wholly new kind of nuclear reactor technology. He wanted that technology to solve the problems facing nuclear power, to allow nuclear power to take its place as a long term solution to our nation's energy needs.
Past Shows:
Nuclear Reactors
Nuclear physicist Dr. Charles Till, who spent nearly 20 years at Argonne National Laboratory working on the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR), discussed the history and current state of nuclear reactors, as well as reasons for the cancellation of his IFR program.Till said most of the world's nuclear reactors are based on the American "light" water (ordinary water) reactor, though Canada has constructed "heavy" water reactors to generate electricity. A major difference between these two types of reactors, explains Till, is American reactors require enriched uranium (U-235) to run, while Canadian reactors are fueled by natural uranium only. Till also explained that nuclear reactors are not fuel efficient, using only a small fraction (less than 1%) of the mined uranium for fission and discarding the rest in spent fuel rods. He said the goal of his work on the IFR was, in part, to solve the enormous fuel inefficiency of nuclear reactors. According to Till, this new reactor used a ... More »
Host: Art Bell