Admiral Lewis Strauss, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, today announced that the U. S. Government will contribute $350,000 toward the cost of a nuclear research reactor project being undertaken by the Israel Atomic Energy Commission. The reactor will be located at an Israel atomic center near Rehovoth.
Admiral Strauss praised Israel’s scientific progress and predicted that Israel will be one of the first nations to reach a practical stage in the establishment of a nuclear reactor. The U. S. will lease necessary fuel for the reactor to Israel.
At a ceremony at AEC headquarters, Ambassador Abba Eban expressed appreciation to the United States and described the importance of Israel’s atomic research plans. Israel is the tenth nation to receive financial assistance from the United States under President Eisenhower’s “atoms for peace” program. The Israel Government has estimated the cost of its nuclear program at $1,410,000.
The reactor to be provided Israel is a one megawatt heterogenous pull type. It will be the primary facility of the developing Israel nuclear research program. A radio chemistry laboratory for nuclear research and isotope separation, a physics and electronics laboratory, machine shops, health, physics, and waste-disposal services are some of the other facilities which will comprise the nuclear center.
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