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| EBR-i? No, EBR-One. |
We then headed back a few miles to visit Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum. The museum is housed in the original nuclear energy station on the site and it is much smaller than those we are accustomed to, like Wolf Creek Power Station near Burlington, Kansas. It is also listed on the National Historic Register. The guide gave us a tour explaining how nuclear reactors and breeder reactors work and the various areas in the station that dealt with each step in the process. She emphasized the safety features, even in the early 1950s, and I came away with a much better attitude about nuclear energy and it's role in our future (--Kathy). It reminded me of the early Robert Heinlein novels of the '40s and '50s that I have enjoyed where nuclear energy is taken for granted and used in all aspects of life.
This whole area of Idaho is centered around nuclear energy, it seems. The museum is on land owned by the Idaho National Laboratory, once known as the Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory.
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| Chris prevents a nuclear catastrophe by manipulating wooden blocks. |
EBR-1 was followed by EBR-2. Museum displays claim the three major nuclear accidents at Three-mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima-Daiichi could not have happened with the EBR-2 design. During its life, EBR-2 ran tests demonstrating that as the nuclear core heats up the fuel spreads out to slow the reaction without the insertion of "control rods" or additional coolant to prevent melting the reactor.
Idaho should be called the "Smile State" because the Snake River Plain is shaped like a large smile across the bottom half of the state. In the eastern half of the smile, running perpendicular to the smile, is the Great Rift of Idaho. Out of this rift came the 60 lava flows that now make up the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.
In the early 1900s a geologist estimated the lava to be 150 years old. However, tree ring dating of a large gnarled tree showed the tree to be 1,300 years old. But how long had the lava been there when the tree started growing? Further study showed the lava had flowed from the Great Rift around 2,000 years ago.And this is the most recent of the eight periods of volcanic activity in this area.
So now the story is that lava started flowing up through the rift about 15,000 years ago and has done so about 8 times. The longest flow is 30 miles long. Two kinds of lava can be seen. Lava types have Hawaiian names. "Pahoehoe" looks like smooth, billowy and ropy. "Aa" is rough and jagged. These flows created a number of cool features such as lava caves and 25 cinder and splatter cones.
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| Horizontal tree mold |
When the lava covered trees and cooled, the wood burned out and decayed leaving tree molds. Vertical tree molds are created when trees remain standing and look like perfect holes drilled in the lava. When trees fall over, horizontal molds show the tree bark burned into squares. In the picture on the right, the flat curved surface is the mold of tree bark. The impression in the lava is easier to see in reality than in this picture.
Another story is how the vegetation is recovering the land, turning lava into soil. More details.
We left the lava flows at about 6:30 pm. Drove back to Arco and then turned north up the Big Lost River valley, passed the Mackay dammed lake, over a pass to the Salmon River. The valley was filled with smoke from Idaho wildfires. The pass was so smokey that the surrounding could be barely seen.
On the Salmon River we stopped in Challis for dinner. It was dark when we drove on. The lights of the van are weak. I drove from Challis to North Fork at about 45 miles an hour, the speed limit in Yellowstone. At one point, a young deer ran out. I swerved. The deer swerved. But there was still a loud bang. The solid front bumper of the camper is unharmed. I did not stop to check the damage to the deer, but I fear the worst.
This night was spent in the highly-rated Wagonhammer KOA park in North Fork, Idaho. We arrived late. Since there is little light pollution, the stars were bright. The Milky Way was easy to see. Our spot was right on the Salmon River.
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum - See more at: http://www.inl.gov/ebr/#sthash.KSFiUnGE.dpuf
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum - See more at: http://www.inl.gov/ebr/#sthash.KSFiUnGE.dpuf
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum - See more at: http://www.inl.gov/ebr/#sthash.KSFiUnGE.dpuf
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum - See more at: http://www.inl.gov/ebr/#sthash.KSFiUnGE.dpuf
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum - See more at: http://www.inl.gov/ebr/#sthash.KSFiUnGE.dpuf
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum - See more at: http://www.inl.gov/ebr/#sthash.KSFiUnGE.dpuf
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Atomic Museum - See more at: http://www.inl.gov/ebr/#sthash.KSFiUnGE.dpuf
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