GRAPHITE AND CARBON PRODUCTS
From Missiles to NASCAR

The 2003 Dodge Viper is lighter and sturdier than the previous model, partly because of ORNL's carbon-fiber-composite research.(Courtesy of the Chrysler Group)

The name Graphite Reactor acknowledges graphite's desirable properties. This form of crystallized carbon was chosen as the moderator for both Oak Ridge's first reactor and the Hanford plutonium-production reactors. Graphite not only slows neutrons from uranium fission enough for plutonium to form but also grows stronger at high temperatures and resists radiation damage.

In the 1940s Eugene Wigner correctly predicted that neutron irradiation of graphite would cause it to swell. Concern about "Wigner disease" helped spur the growth of ORNL materials research.

By controlling the orientation of graphite's crystalline grains, ORNL's Walt Eatherly, Ray Kennedy, and Fred Jeffers developed the award-winning GraphNOL, which was commercialized in the 1980s. This graphite, which resists radiation damage and withstands extreme thermal shock and stress, has been used in missile nose cones.

One motivation for this research was the selection of graphite as the moderator for high-temperature gas-cooled reactors designed at ORNL. Today Laboratory researchers are assessing graphite properties and standards for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as part of the advanced gas-cooled-reactor program.

In the 1960s, Oak Ridge researchers led by John Googin developed the first method to produce carbon foams, which have been used as high-temperature furnace insulation. Carbon-bonded carbon-fiber insulation was developed at ORNL for use in heat sources aboard satellites and space probes.

In the 1990s Ted Besmann and others developed carbon-composite bipolar plates to make lighter, longer lasting auto fuel cells. The technology was licensed to Porvair, Inc., which is installing a pilot unit to produce plates for a major fuel-cell developer.

Tim Burchell and James Klett developed a process that was commercialized for making carbon-carbon brake discs that give airplanes better stopping power. In 1998 Klett produced graphite foam that transfers heat unusually well. This licensed technology has uses for vehicles, electronics, and homeland security.

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