May 18 1974
From The Space Library
A new low-cost method of making solar cells could make solar energy available to individual homes and businesses within a few years, the Washington Post reported. The Post quoted Dr. A. I. Mlaysky, Director of Research at Tyco Laboratories, Inc., and R. Bruce Chalmers, professor of metallurgy at Harvard Univ., as saying the new process-developed by a university-industry team funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation-could cut solar cell production costs by 95%. With the new cells, a system that could produce 1 kw of electricity would cost $350; a system using conventional silicon-crystal cells cost between $20 000 and $100 000. In the new process, molten silicon material was pulled into long thin ribbons and cut into various lengths. (Leary, W Post, 18 May 74)
India set off its first nuclear blast, an underground explosion equivalent to 10 000-15 000 tons of TNT, to become the world's sixth nuclear power. At a press briefing, the Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission, H. N. Sethna, said the blast was an experiment to determine the cratering effect of the earth and the cracking effect of rocks under the soil. (AP, W Star-News, 19 May 74, Al)
The Soviet Union's first 1-million-kw nuclear reactor had begun operation near Leningrad and had generated its first billion kilowatts of electricity, Pravda reported. (Shabad, NYT, 30 May 74, 51)
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