Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory

Last updated
Overhead view of the KAPL, c. 1955 HD.6D.452 (10947227573).jpg
Overhead view of the KAPL, c. 1955

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) is an American research and development facility based in Niskayuna, New York and dedicated to the support of the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. [1] KAPL was instituted in 1946 under a contract between General Electric and the United States government. In the 21st century, KAPL is a government-owned, contractor-operated laboratory for the US Department of Energy. KAPL is responsible for the research, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of U.S. nuclear-powered warships. It also manages work on nuclear ships at numerous shipyards across the country.

Contents

History

On May 15, 1946, KAPL began with a contract between General Electric and the U.S. Government to conduct nuclear research and development, including the generation of electricity from nuclear energy. In 1950, the nuclear power plant project was converted to a Naval Nuclear Propulsion project. Several years later Knolls' work joined that of Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory, and others in developing the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus on January 21, 1954.

In 1952 and 1953, Jimmy Carter, who would later become a US president, worked at KAPL as an engineer. [2]

The Chart of the Nuclides, containing information such as masses, relative abundances, half-lives, neutron cross sections, and decay properties for more than 3,100 nuclides and 580 isomers was developed at KAPL. This chart is a necessity for students and professionals in nuclear physics, chemistry, engineering, and medicine around the world. The Chart has been compiled, edited and periodically revised by KAPL scientists since 1956.

Today

KAPL operates two sites in New York, the Knolls site in Niskayuna and the Kenneth A. Kesselring [3] site in West Milton. [1] Niskayuna is the primary site for the KAPL, focusing on the design and development of naval propulsion plants and reactor cores. The West Milton site operates land-based prototypes of shipboard reactor plants. This site is also used to train officers and enlisted personnel for the U.S. Navy's fleet of nuclear-powered vessels. KAPL employs more than 2,600 people [1] at these sites and others, mostly shipyards in the states of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Virginia, and Washington.

In 2006 KAPL achieved full remediation of the S1C Prototype Reactor site located in Windsor, Connecticut. The S1C site remedial action was declared to be complete by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection in October 2006. KAPL had taken over operation of the S1C Prototype in the 1960s after expiration of the Navy's original contract with Combustion Engineering.

KAPL, as well as Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, is managed and operated by Fluor Marine Propulsion Corporation, a subsidiary of Fluor Corporation. Previously operated by Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation, [4] [5] a wholly owned subsidiary of Bechtel National Incorporated. The previous operating contractor of KAPL was Lockheed Martin. KAPL's original contractor was General Electric. KAPL was one of the first laboratories to conduct research on obtaining usable power from nuclear reactors.

Employee case

KAPL was sued in a precedent-setting age discrimination lawsuit. In June 2008, a 7-1 decision of the United States Supreme Court placed the burden on all employers to prove that a layoff affecting older workers is based on reasonable factors other than age, reversing a lower court that placed the burden of proving age discrimination on the dismissed employees. [6]

The long-running case, Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Lab (Docket 06-1505), was filed by 28 of 31 employees dismissed during downsizing at the lab in 1996. The Lab had instituted a voluntary buyout plan but could not attain the desired staff reduction. It developed a matrix to rank employees based on three factors: performance, flexibility and criticality of their jobs, and added points for years of service. All of the dismissed employees were at least 40 years old.

Twenty-eight of those dismissed sued in January 1997 under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. A jury found for the employees in December 2000, and judgment was rendered in 2002. The Lab appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, but the judgment was upheld in 2004. KAPL appealed again and, while its petition to the US Supreme Court was pending, a related case ( Smith v. City of Jackson [Docket 03-1160]) caused the Court in 2006 to vacate the judgment in favor of the defendants (Meacham II).

The 17 remaining plaintiffs (9 had settled their claims) petitioned the US Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled in their favor on technical grounds. The case was remanded to the 2nd Circuit Court, where the original judgment was finally reinstated in 2009 (Meacham III). [7] [8]

The importance of this case stems from its conclusion that employers' actions or policies that appear reasonable and neutral but nevertheless have a disparate impact on older workers are discriminatory in practice. In the majority opinion, Justice Souter wrote, “There is no denying that putting employers to the work of persuading fact-finders that their choices are reasonable makes it harder and costlier to defend,” but that was an issue that Congress should address. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States naval reactors</span> Classes of nuclear reactors used by the United States Navy

United States naval reactors are nuclear reactors used by the United States Navy aboard certain ships to generate the steam used to produce power for propulsion, electric power, catapulting airplanes in aircraft carriers, and a few more minor uses. Such naval nuclear reactors have a complete power plant associated with them. All commissioned U.S. Navy submarines and supercarriers built since 1975 are nuclear powered, with the last conventional carrier, USS Kitty Hawk, being decommissioned in May 2009. The U.S. Navy also had nine nuclear-powered cruisers with such reactors, but they have since been decommissioned as well.

The D1G reactor was a prototype naval reactor designed for the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The D1G designation stands for:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Reactors Facility</span> United States Department of Energy nuclear reactor facility

The Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) is located 52 miles (84 km) northwest of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The NRF is a United States Department of Energy-Naval Reactors facility where three nuclear propulsion prototypes A1W, S1W and S5G were located. It is contractor-operated for the government by Fluor Corporation through their subsidiary, Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC, which also operates Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.

The S1C reactor was a prototype naval reactor designed for the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The S1C designation stands for:

The A4W reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to propel warships and generate onboard electricity.

The S6G reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on Los Angeles-class attack submarines. The S6G designation stands for:

The S8G reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The S8G designation stands for:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Prometheus</span> NASA nuclear electric propulsion project 2003-2006

Project Prometheus was established in 2003 by NASA to develop nuclear-powered systems for long-duration space missions. This was NASA's first serious foray into nuclear spacecraft propulsion since the cancellation of the SNTP project in 1995. The project was planned to design, develop, and fly multiple deep space missions to the outer planets.

Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory is a U.S. Government-owned research and development facility in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, that works exclusively on the design and development of nuclear power for the U.S. Navy. It was one of the leaders in creating the nuclear navy.

A nuclear navy, or nuclear-powered navy, refers to the portion of a navy consisting of naval ships powered by nuclear marine propulsion. The concept was revolutionary for naval warfare when first proposed. Prior to nuclear power, submarines were powered by diesel engines and could only submerge through the use of batteries. In order for these submarines to run their diesel engines and charge their batteries they would have to surface or snorkel. The use of nuclear power allowed these submarines to become true submersibles and unlike their conventional counterparts, they became limited only by crew endurance and supplies.

The S9G reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on Virginia-class submarines. The S9G designation stands for:

Combustion Engineering (C-E) was a multi-national American-based engineering firm that developed nuclear steam supply power systems in the United States. Originally headquartered in New York City, C-E moved its corporate offices to Stamford, Connecticut in 1973. C-E owned over three dozen other companies including Lummus Company, National Tank Company and the Morgan Door Company. The company was acquired by Asea Brown Boveri in early 1990. The boiler and fossil fuel businesses were purchased by Alstom in 2000, and the nuclear business was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company also in 2000.

The Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory (WANL) was a division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Established in 1959 to develop nuclear space propulsion technologies for the government, the lab was located, for most of its history, in the paradoxically small town of "Large" along Pa. Rte 51, about 13 miles (21 km) south of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. The site is not far from the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin, which Westinghouse operated during the same time and later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion</span> U.S. project 1946–1961

The Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program and the preceding Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project worked to develop a nuclear propulsion system for aircraft. The United States Army Air Forces initiated Project NEPA on May 28, 1946. NEPA operated until May 1951, when the project was transferred to the joint Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)/USAF ANP. The USAF pursued two different systems for nuclear-powered jet engines, the Direct Air Cycle concept, which was developed by General Electric, and Indirect Air Cycle, which was assigned to Pratt & Whitney. The program was intended to develop and test the Convair X-6, but was canceled in 1961 before that aircraft was built. The total cost of the program from 1946 to 1961 was about $1 billion.

The S2W reactor was a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The S2W designation stands for:

Westinghouse Advanced Energy Systems Division (AESD) was a research and development facility for nonconventional renewable energy systems, in the small town of Large in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania [USA]. The site is on the east side of Pa. Rte. 51, about 13 miles (21 km) south of Pittsburgh. Formerly the site of the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory (WANL), Westinghouse Electric Corporation changed the name of the facility, along with its charter, in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear Power School</span> Technical school operated by the U.S. Navy

Nuclear Power School (NPS) is a technical school operated by the U.S. Navy in Goose Creek, South Carolina as a central part of a program that trains enlisted sailors, officers, KAPL civilians and Bettis civilians for shipboard nuclear power plant operation and maintenance of surface ships and submarines in the U.S. nuclear navy. As of 2020 the United States Navy operates 98 nuclear power plants, including 71 submarines, 11 aircraft carriers, two Moored Training Ships (MTS) and two land-based training plants. NPS is the centerpiece of the training pipeline for U.S. Navy nuclear operators. It follows initial training at Nuclear Field "A" School or a college degree, and culminates with certification as a nuclear operator at one of the Navy's two Nuclear Power Training Units (NPTU).

The S1B reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on Columbia-class submarines. The S1B designation stands for:

William Rudolph Kanne, was a physicist, inventor and pioneer in the field of gas flow through ionization detectors, a member of the group responsible for the first self-sustained nuclear chain fission reaction at Staggs Field in Chicago, and participated in the Manhattan Project at the Chicago, Oak Ridge and Hanford sites.

Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, 554 U.S. 84 (2008), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 19, 2008. The Court decided that an employer bears both the burden of production and burden of persuasion when defending a disparate impact claim using the "reasonable factors" defense under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Knolls Atomic Power Lab - KAPL" . Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  2. ↑ Post, Paul. "Carter did a stint in county". saratogian.com. MediaNews Group. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Kenneth A. Kesselring". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Bechtel Marine Propulsion Selected to Manage Bettis and Knolls (KAPL) Atomic Power Laboratories" . Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  5. ↑ "Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation" . Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  6. 1 2 Greenhouse, Linda (June 20, 2008). "A Supreme Court Victory for Older Workers". New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Case 1:97-cv-00012-DRH Document 312" (PDF). United States Printing Office. May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Case 1:97-cv-00012-DRH Document 316" (PDF). United States Printing Office. May 11, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2012.

43°02′26″N73°57′14″W / 43.04056°N 73.95380°W / 43.04056; -73.95380

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.