Chemists in the nuclear industry

The subject is discussed under the headings: introduction; early years of the UK's nuclear industry; the nuclear industry today; chemistry and the reactor (with special reference to the development of fast reactors); sodium as a solvent for (a) metals, and (b) non-metals; solubility of (a) oxygen, (b) nitrogen and (c) carbon in sodium; interactions in liquid sodium; impurities in sodium; chemistry and the fuel (typically a solid solution of (Pu,U)O2 with about 20% Pu; analytical chemistry; chemistry in the future nuclear industry. (U.K.)