ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF ATOMIC ENERGY AS A SOURCE OF POWER.

The possible use of fissionable substances as a new and important source of energy gives rise to a number of economic questions. This paper deals in a very general way with two sets of questions—those related to the comparative costs of producing energy from atomic fuels and other sources, and those related to the economic consequences which might follow the introduction and use of atomic fuels. The discussion is built around examples which illustrate each of the questions considered. Energy is developed in the atomic pile in the form of heat. The heat produced might possibly be consumed directly in a variety of industrial and nonindustrial uses requiring either low- or high-temperature heat. In the light of what is known of current research on peacetime applications of atomic power, it is probable that the earliest important use of the heat produced in the pile will be in the generation of electricity. It is for this reason that such estimates as have been made of the cost of energy from atomic sources have been for the generation of electric power. This paper, similarly, is limited to a discussion of atomic energy as a source of electric power.