ABSTRACT
According to official sources, federal expenditures on the LMFBR from 1969 through 1972 totaled $682 million (see Table 1). This includes expenditures for research and development, as well as operating, equipment, and construction costs; it does not include costs of research on environmental and health hazards from low-dose radiation exposure. During these four years, the proportion of federal R&D energy expenditures attributable to the LMFBR increased from 37 percent to 45 percent. However, according to one estimate, the actual resources committed may have been much higher because many of the AEC’s general reactor technology and safety programs have been diverted to solving problems specific to the breeder. 1 Federal Energy Research and Development Funding, Fiscal Year 1969 Through 1973
|
(millions of dollars) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Energy type |
1969 |
1970 |
1971 |
1972 |
1973 |
|
Coal resources development (total) |
23.3 |
30.4 |
49.0 |
76.8 |
94.4 |
|
Production and utilization R&D |
21.0 |
26.7 |
34.2 |
45.8 |
64.3 |
|
Mining health and safety research |
2.3 |
3.7 |
14.8 |
31.0 |
30.1 |
|
Petroleum and natural gas (total) |
13.5 |
14.8 |
17.5 |
23.8 |
26.1 |
|
Petroleum extraction technology |
2.6 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
3.2 |
3.1 |
|
Nuclear gas stimulation a |
2.4 |
3.7 |
6.1 |
7.0 |
7.5 |
|
Oil shale |
2.5 |
2.4 |
2.7 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
|
Continental shelf mapping |
6.0 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
11.0 |
13.0 |
|
Nuclear fission (total) |
277.1 |
253.4 |
265.6 |
328.1 |
356.3 |
|
LMFBR a |
132.5 |
144.3 |
167.9 |
237.4 |
261.5 |
|
Other civilian nuclear power b |
144.6 |
109.1 |
97.7 |
90.7 |
94.8 |
|
Nuclear fusion (total) |
31.8 |
37.5 |
41.6 |
47.2 |
65.4 |
|
Magnetic confinement b |
29.7 |
34.3 |
32.3 |
33.2 |
40.3 |
|
Laser-pellet a, b |
2.1 |
3.2 |
9.3 |
14.0 |
25.1 |
|
Energy conversion with less environmental impact (total) |
12.3 |
22.9 |
22.8 |
33.4 |
55.3 |
|
Cleaner fuels R&D—stationary sources |
10.7 |
19.8 |
17.4 |
24.5 |
29.5 |
|
SOr removal |
2.6 |
15.2 |
|||
|
Improved energy systems |
0.3 |
0.8 |
3.0 |
2.4 |
2.8 |
|
Thermal effects R&D |
1.3 |
2.3 |
2.4 |
3.9 |
2.8 c |
|
General energy R&D (total) |
3.0 |
4.2 |
8.7 |
15.4 |
24.1 |
|
Energy resources research d |
1.1 |
5.0 |
9.8 |
13.4 |
|
|
Geothermal resources |
0.1 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.7 |
2.5 |
|
Engineering energetics research |
2.9 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
4.0 |
4.7 |
|
Underground transmission |
0.8 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
||
|
Cryogenic generation |
1.0 |
||||
|
Nonnuclear energy R&D |
1.5 |
||||
|
Total |
361.0 |
363.2 |
405.2 |
524.7 |
621.6 |
This funding includes operation, equipment, and construction costs.
The primary applications of the multipurpose laser-pellet effort are for other than energy production.
This entry includes $1,500,000 for dry cooling tower R&D under the AEC’s new nonnuclear energy R&D category. Other related work is carried out under other civilian nuclear power.
The NSF RANN program includes research on solar energy as well as fundamental energy policy studies.
