Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Every year more and more radioactive materials are being used; and the total shipments have grown in this country from 135 in 1947 to over 19,000 last year. This is illustrated in the first slide. By 1965 it is hoped that nuclear power stations will be producing some 2,000 megawatts and this will mean that still larger quantities of radioactive materials will become available. In 1935 the total amount of uranium in the world had an activity of something like 2,000 curies, and this was distributed in small quantities. At present it is not uncommon to manipulate at any one time quantities of 100,000 curies in flammable solvents, and the activities in the materials in the nuclear power stations which are envisaged will amount to tens of millions of curies. It is understandable, therefore, that the population in general, and the Insurance Companies in particular, feel a certain amount of apprehension about these new developments.