Energy & Power

The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.

A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.

The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature.
Description
The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature. The technique was simply to bombard uranium with neutrons. Some of the uranium nuclei would undergo fission, newly understood phenomenon, and split violently into two pieces. In other cases, however, a uranium-238 nucleus (atomic number 92) would quietly absorb a neutron, becoming a nucleus of uranium-239, which in turn would soon give off a beta-particle and become what is now called neptunium-239 (atomic number 93). After another beta decay it would become Element 94 (now plutonium-239)
By the end of 1940, theoretical physicists had predicted that this last substance, like uranium, would undergo fission, and therefore might be used to make a nuclear reactor or bomb. Enrico Fermi asked Emilio Segre to use the powerful new 60-inch cyclotron at the University of California at Berkeley to bombard uranium with slow neutrons and create enough plutonium-239 to test it for fission. Segre teamed up with Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl in January 1941 and set to work.
They carried out the initial bombardment on March 3-6, then, using careful chemical techniques, isolated the tiny amount (half a microgram) of plutonium generated. They put it on a platinum disc, called "Sample A," and on March 28 bombarded it with slow neutrons to test for fission. As expected, it proved to be fissionable - even more than U-235. To allow for more accurate measurements, they purified Sample A and deposited it on another platinum disc, forming the "Sample B" here preserved. Measurements taken with it were reported in a paper submitted to the Physical Review on May 29, 1941, but kept secret until 1946. (The card in the lid of the box bears notes from a couple of months later.)
After the summer of 1941, this particular sample was put away and almost forgotten, but the research that began with it took off in a big way. Crash programs for the production and purification of plutonium began at Berkeley and Chicago, reactors to make plutonium were built at Hanford, Washington, and by 1945 the Manhattan Project had designed and built a plutonium atomic bomb. The first one was tested on July 16, 1945 in the world's first nuclear explosion, and the next was used in earnest over Nagasaki. (The Hiroshima bomb used U-235.)
Why is our plutonium sample in a cigar box? G.N. Lewis, a Berkeley chemist, was a great cigar smoker, and Seaborg, his assistant, made it a habit to grab his boxes as they became empty, to use for storing things. In this case, it was no doubt important to keep the plutonium undisturbed and uncontaminated, on the one hand, but also, on the other hand, to make it possible for its weak radiations to pass directly into instruments - not through the wall of some closed container. Such considerations, combined probably with an awareness of the historic importance of the sample, brought about the storage arrangement we see.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1941-05-21
Associated Date
1941-05-29
referenced
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn T.
Kennedy, Joseph W.
Wahl, Arthur C.
Lewis, G. N.
University of California, Berkeley
maker
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn
ID Number
EM.N-09384
catalog number
N-09384
accession number
272669
Thomas Edison and others considered element number 6, carbon, ideal for lamp filaments in part because it has the highest melting point of any element. Element number 74, tungsten, has the next highest melting point but it then existed only as a powder.
Description
Thomas Edison and others considered element number 6, carbon, ideal for lamp filaments in part because it has the highest melting point of any element. Element number 74, tungsten, has the next highest melting point but it then existed only as a powder. Attempts to make it into a workable form failed until early in the 1900s when a burst of invention occurred in Europe. A pressing technique called "sintering" (squeezing a material into a dense mass) was adopted by several inventors.
The most commercially successful design proved to be that of Dr. Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman of Austria. Their work on sintering tungsten was based on a prior sintering process developed by Carl Auer von Welsbach for his filament made of osmium. Just and Hanaman made a tungsten and organic paste, squirted it through a die, baked out the organic material, then sintered the tungsten in a mix of gasses. The resulting filament gave about 8 lumens per watt and lasted 800 hours.
Another Austrian, Dr. Hans Kutzel, used an electric arc to make a tungsten and water paste. He then pressed, baked, and sintered the tungsten in a manner similar to Just and Hanaman's procedure. Yet another pair of Austrians, Fritz Blau and Hermann Remane, adapted the osmium lamp process (they worked for Welsbach) by making a filament from an osmium and tungsten mix. They soon changed their "Osram" lamp filament to tungsten only. (The German word for tungsten is wolfram.)
All three filaments were brittle and collectively known as "non-ductile" filaments. Individual filaments could not be made long enough to give the proper electrical resistance, so lamps needed several filaments connected end-to-end. U.S. companies quickly licensed rights to all of the non-ductile patents. This particular lamp was made under license by General Electric and sent to the National Bureau of Standards for use as a standard lamp.
Lamp characteristics: Medium-screw base with glass insulator. Five single-arch tungsten filaments (in series) with 5 upper and 8 lower support hooks. The stem assembly features soldered connectors, Siemens-type press seal, and a cotton insulator. Tipped, straight-sided envelope with taper at neck.
Date made
ca 1908
date made
ca. 1908
maker
General Electric
ID Number
1992.0342.16
catalog number
1992.0342.16
accession number
1992.0342
Irving Langmuir received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1906 from the University of Göttingen. He studied under Walther Nernst, who had invented a new type of incandescent lamp only a few years before.
Description
Irving Langmuir received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1906 from the University of Göttingen. He studied under Walther Nernst, who had invented a new type of incandescent lamp only a few years before. In 1909 Langmuir accepted a position at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York. Ironically, he soon invented a lamp that made Nernst's lamp (and others) obsolete.
Langmuir experimented with the bendable tungsten wire developed by his colleague William Coolidge. He wanted to find a way to keep tungsten lamps from "blackening" or growing dim as the inside of the bulb became coated with tungsten evaporated from the filament. Though he did not solve this problem, he did create a coiled-tungsten filament mounted in a gas-filled lamp—a design still used today.
Up to that time all the air and other gasses were removed from lamps so the filaments could operate in a vacuum. Langmuir found that by putting nitrogen into a lamp, he could slow the evaporation of tungsten from the filament. He then found that thin filaments radiated heat faster than thick filaments, but the same thin filament–wound into a coil–radiated heat as if it were a solid rod the diameter of the coil. By 1913 Langmuir had gas–filled lamps that gave 12 to 20 lumens per watt (lpw), while Coolidge's vacuum lamps gave about 10 lpw.
During the 1910s GE began phasing-in Langmuir's third generation tungsten lamps, calling them "Mazda C" lamps. Although today's lamps are different in detail (for example, argon is used rather than nitrogen), the basic concept is still the same. The lamp seen here was sent to the National Bureau of Standards in the mid 1920s for use as a standard lamp.
Lamp characteristics: Brass medium-screw base with skirt and glass insulator. Two tungsten filaments (both are C9 configuration, mounted in parallel) with 6 support hooks and a support attaching each lead to the stem. The stem assembly includes welded connectors, angled-dumet leads, and a mica heat-shield attached to the leads above the press. The shield clips are welded to the press. Lamp is filled with nitrogen gas. Tipless, G-shaped envelope with neck.
Date made
ca 1925
date made
ca. 1925
ID Number
1992.0342.23
accession number
1992.0342
catalog number
1992.0342.23
Background on Control Console for 105-D Plutonium Production Reactor; object cat. no. 1993.0138.02The Manhattan Project, the scientific and military undertaking to develop the atomic bomb, was formally launched by the U.S. government in September 1942.
Description
Background on Control Console for 105-D Plutonium Production Reactor; object cat. no. 1993.0138.02
The Manhattan Project, the scientific and military undertaking to develop the atomic bomb, was formally launched by the U.S. government in September 1942. For a short history of it, go to
http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/mp/index.shtml
Author Richard Rhodes has written a highly-regarded comprehensive history of the atomic bomb, including the story of the Hanford reactors, rich in human, political and scientific detail: Rhodes, Richard. 1986. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Simon and Schuster.
As part of the Manhattan Project, plutonium production reactors were constructed at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and then at Hanford, Washington. The first was the experimental X-10 Graphite Reactor built at Oak Ridge; it went online in 1943 and served as the prototype for the series of reactors at Hanford. The 100 Area is the part of the Hanford Site located along the banks of the Columbia River. It is where the nine reactors built from 1943 through 1965 are found. They were constructed next to the river because they needed plenty of hydroelectric power and cooling water during operation. The first three of these, 105-B, 105-D, and 105-F, were built simultaneously about six miles apart, starting in October 1943. The first completed, the 105-B Reactor, started operations in September 1944, and produced the fissile material for the two plutonium bombs used during World War II, the “Trinity” test bomb and the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. This 105-B Reactor, the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor, has been designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and is also part of the new Manhattan Project National Park. For a detailed description of the construction and operation of this reactor, see the following document:
Historic American Engineering Record; Hanford Cultural and Historical Resources Program,
B REACTOR HANFORD SITE, HAER No. WA. 164, DOE/RL-2001-16
(pdf file posted online at http:/www.b-reactor.org/history.htm)
The world’s second full-scale nuclear reactor was the 105-D. It began operating in December of 1944, ran through June of 1967, and was ultimately “cocooned” in 2004. (Cocooning is a process by which the reactor core is encased in a concrete shell for 75 years to allow residual radioactivity to decay away. This cocoon is designed to prevent any radiation or contamination left over from the nuclear operations from escaping to the environment.)
The control room of each of Hanford’s nuclear reactors, such as the 105-D, received the information necessary for monitoring and controlling the plant and contained the facilities for operating it. These first generation control rooms consisted almost entirely of panel instrumentation with fixed, discrete components such as switches, indicator lights, strip chart recorders, analog gauges, and annunciator windows. The early Hanford reactors were equipped with various safety and control instruments that measured temperature, pressure, moisture, neutron flux, and radioactivity levels. For a description of these measurements, see pp. 51-55 in the HAER document referenced above. Two measurement examples follow.
1) Moisture content in the circulating helium atmosphere surrounding the reactor. “Water was chosen as the coolant for the Hanford piles [reactors] . . . because it was available in large quantities, had a high heat-transfer coefficient, and was well understood among engineers. The decision to use water was not an easy one, because although water is an effective coolant, it is also an oxidizer of uranium and, in a graphite-moderated pile, an effective poison for the chain reaction” (ibid, p. 42). The largest component of air, nitrogen, is a relatively good absorber of neutrons. “Any air within the pile, therefore, would serve to poison the chain reaction. Another problem associated with air in the pile is argon gas. Although it makes up only a tiny portion of a given volume of air (about 0.9 percent), argon readily becomes radioactive when exposed to the intense neutron flux (flow rate or density) of a pile (more so than the all the other gases in air combined). It was almost impossible to make the pile absolutely gas-tight, so any air within the pile could leak into the surrounding work areas, where the radioactive argon gas could present a hazard to the workers. To eliminate both these problems, the pile’s atmosphere was replaced with circulating helium gas. Helium absorbs no neutrons within the pile and is the one element in which radioactivity cannot be induced by neutron bombardment. There were still more advantages to a helium atmosphere. Helium has a fairly high thermal conductivity (five or six times that of air), meaning that it would aid in the transfer of heat from the pile’s graphite shields and control-rod passages to the 2,004 cooling tubes. Helium is inert, which made it easier to detect water leaks within the pile by sampling the gas as it circulated out of the pile, at which point the helium gas could then be dried and purified” (ibid p.36). “The circulating helium was tested for moisture content in order to reveal any leaks within the pile. Samples could be drawn from the main gas duct, or from 10 sampling tubes that penetrated the rear shielding into the 4 in. gas plenum” (ibid p. 37).
2) Neutron flux levels. “The primary measure of the pile’s chain reaction was the neutron density, or flux, within the pile. One problem with the design of the instrumentation that measured this reactivity was the incredible range of neutron density involved. . . . When it was running at full power, the neutron flux was 100 billion times greater than when it was shut down or running at very low power. To handle this range, two different sets of neutron monitors were needed. The high-level flux was measured by four ionization chambers installed in different tunnels under the pile. . . . The very small current developed by these chambers was measured by picoammeters located in the control room. At the time, these Beckman meters (named after the company that made them) were called micro-microammeters, and were state of the art” (ibid p.53). “When the pile was shut down or running at very low power levels, the low-level neutron fluxmonitor system, or subcritical monitor, would measure its reactivity. Its primary use was to determine when the pile achieved criticality and the rate of rise of power level. The galvanometer system consisted of one ionization chamber under the pile connected to two galvanometers in series. One galvanometer provided a signal (deflection) proportional to the neutron flux, while the other registered the deviation from a preset level. In this way, the system could show small changes in the neutron flux. This system also included shunts and potentiometers at the control room console to compensate for range changes” (ibid, p. 54).
The control console, the separate water temperature control panel, and some related artifacts from the 105-D Reactor are in the Smithsonian’s Modern Physics Collection (accession no. 1993.0138). The control console closely resembles the console at Oak Ridge for the X-10 Reactor. It consists of a wooden cabinet with black metal instrument panels occupying the upper part and the right side of the front (see accompanying media images). A console projecting below the center and left portion contains three small inclined control panels designed for a seated operator. Indicators include two chart recorders (one is "Differential Pwr. Recorder"), two translucent glass galvanometer scales (presumably for the neutron flux monitoring function quoted above), and gauges for fuel rods. There are also numerous switches and knobs for equipment such as control rods, pumps, and bypasses. [See curator's file for details on location, dimensions, markings and condition of each section (including details on gauges, recorders, switches, lights, buttons, etc.)].
Brief description of nuclear fission using slow neutrons
Several heavy elements, such as uranium, thorium, and plutonium, undergo both spontaneous fission, a form of radioactive decay, and induced fission, a form of nuclear reaction. Neutrons, because they have no electrical charge, are not repelled by the positively charged atomic nucleus of an atom. Slow neutrons have a greater probability than fast neutrons of being absorbed in the nucleus of certain isotopes. Elemental isotopes that undergo induced fission when struck by a free neutron of any energy are called fissionable; isotopes that undergo fission when struck by a “thermal,” slow moving, neutron are also called fissile. A few particularly fissile isotopes, notably U-233, U-235 and Pu-239, can be used as nuclear fuels because under certain conditions assemblies of these isotopes can sustain a chain reaction through the release of additional neutrons among their fission products. This makes possible a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction that releases energy at a controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or at a very rapid uncontrolled rate in a nuclear weapon. Although Pu-239 is exceedingly rare in nature, it was discovered that U-238 atoms could be transmuted to Pu-239 (capture of extra neutrons by U-238 to form U-239, which then undergoes a series of decays to form Pu-239). The required quantities of Pu-239 were produced in the nuclear reactors at Hanford, in which U-238 atoms absorbed neutrons that had been emitted from U-235 atoms undergoing fission. The plutonium so produced was then chemically separated from the uranium in dedicated separation facilities.
For the basic concepts of nuclear fission, chain reactions, critical mass, fission of uranium and plutonium isotopes, and the basic principles used for atomic bombs developed in the Manhattan Project, go to: http://www.atomicarchive.com/Fission/Fission1.shtml
ID Number
1993.0138.02
catalog number
1993.0138.02
accession number
1993.0138
A poster created by the Coalition for a Non-nuclear World advertising a series of events including a march, rally and lobbying at Capitol Hill.Currently not on view
Description
A poster created by the Coalition for a Non-nuclear World advertising a series of events including a march, rally and lobbying at Capitol Hill.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2015.0066.26
accession number
2015.0066
catalog number
2015.0066.26
During his term in office, President Jimmy Carter fought for clean energy using renewable sources. As a symbol of his faith in “the power of the sun,” Carter had 32 solar panels installed on the White House West Wing roof in the summer of 1979.
Description
During his term in office, President Jimmy Carter fought for clean energy using renewable sources. As a symbol of his faith in “the power of the sun,” Carter had 32 solar panels installed on the White House West Wing roof in the summer of 1979. These panels were used to heat water in the household for seven years until President Ronald Reagan had them removed in 1986. The panels were stored in a government warehouse until 1991, when they were acquired by Unity College in Maine. The college installed some of the panels to heat their cafeteria water.
This solar panel is one of the original Carter White House panels and was donated to the National Museum of American History by Unity College in 2009.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1977
user
Carter, Jimmy
maker
Inter Technology/Solar Corporation
ID Number
2009.0154.01
catalog number
2009.0154.01
accession number
2009.0154
Several types of renewable energy sources are available as alternatives to non-renewable, carbon-based fuels. This button advocates the use of solar energy to generate electricity.
Description (Brief)
Several types of renewable energy sources are available as alternatives to non-renewable, carbon-based fuels. This button advocates the use of solar energy to generate electricity. It was distributed in 1978 by Solar Action, the Washington, D.C.-based organization that helped to organize Sun Day (3 May 1978.) For many people, the 1970s energy crisis was a call to action to change how electricity was generated and used. Making the choice to “go solar”—and encouraging others to do the same—reflected growing optimism about the potential of clean, accessible solar energy.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1978
maker
Edward Horn Co.
ID Number
2003.0014.0400
accession number
2003.0014
catalog number
2003.0014.0400

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