The first atomic power plant in the world was built in the U.S.S.R. and went into service in 1954. There are now a number of such plants in the United States. Two of the largest are the Duquesne Light Company at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and Consolidated Edison's Indian Point Plant, in New York State. [Illustration] Important as atomic power is to cities, it is of even greater importance to faraway places where fuel is hard to get. For example, at the U.S. Army's Camp Century in Greenland, far above the Arctic Circle, obtaining power had always been a problem. The cost of shipping coal or oil to such a place was so high that it was impractical. People had to get along with very little heat or power. But not any more. Camp Century's new atomic power plant supplies heat and electricity for all. In a whole year the plant uses only 40 pounds of atomic fuel. If it ran on diesel fuel, it would need 850,000 gallons a year! One of the strangest things about some atomic reactors (called _breeder reactors_), is that they make new fuel as they go along. If the fuel is uranium, it is usually a mixture of uranium-235 and uranium-238. Only the U-235 can be used for the chain reaction. But when the flying neutrons from the U-235 strike the U-238, it turns into a new element, _plutonium_. Plutonium is a fine atomic fuel, just like U-235. In some atomic furnaces there is more fuel at the end of the reaction than the furnace had to start with! Just look at all the advantages of the atomic power plant: It solves the problem of the disappearing fossil fuels. The plant is almost completely automatic and can be run by just a few men. It saves the cost of shipping heavy fuels to distant places. Some atomic plants make new fuel as they run. Also, the ashes of an atomic furnace are highly valuable for a number of purposes, as you will soon see. With so many advantages, there is no question that the coal or oil power plant will soon be a thing of the past. It may be that during your lifetime, most of the world's power will come from atomic reactors. 8 ATOMS FOR TRANSPORT In the year 1819, the world was agog because a steamship had crossed the Atlantic Ocean. How wonderful it seemed! The ship was called the _Savannah_. She carried wood and coal for her steam boilers, but the ship wasn't large enough to carry fuel for the 30-day trip. There was steam for the first seven days, and then the _Savannah_ continued under sails. Today, there is a new Savannah which can travel for three and one half years on one load of fuel! She is called the Nuclear Ship _Savannah_ and her fuel is uranium. Instead of a steam boiler she has a Pressurized Water Reactor. The _Savannah_ is a beautiful white ship nearly 600 feet long. But when you look at her, there seems to be something missing. There aren't any smokestacks! Of course there aren't any smokestacks, because there isn't any smoke!