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Show monday, Western Zirconium plans bigger than expected CLOTHES THAT LAST... The $50 million earmarked for construction of the Western Zirconium plant near Ogden is only a drop in the bucket" compared to expected construction at the 1000 acre site, Western officials said Tuesday. "Since zirconium is necessary in refueling nuclear reactors, there is already a constant demand for the ore," Stephen Yih, vice president of "We Western explained. chose a large site and will only partially develop it now, expanding as demand grows. Nuclear energy is the energy of the future, and Western Zirconium expects to operate only the Ogden plant, so you can expect massive growth there." Yih, dubbed the "father of zirconium" because he is considered the worlds leading authority on the metal, formed Western Zirconium in 1976 after the Wah Chang Corp. was purchased by Teledyne. He had been president of Wah Chang, and upon the acquisition left the company to form Western. Western had been dormant until its May purchase by Westinghouse, which is furnishing the capital needed to construct production facil- WHAT POLO IS ALL ABOUT. ities. An unconstructed navy blazer, oxford button-dowshirt, by RALPH LAUREN Time for competition n chino trousers... all in pure cotton. A slim silk repp tie. What could be easier. BARNEYS TROLLEY SQUARE 12-DIG- A Until 1979, when Western begins operations, Teledyne will remain the only continental producer of zirconium, a corrosion-resista- nt metal PRI NTI NGDISPLAY IT SEIKO 310 IMPACT PRINTING HEAD ? BE HOW wiMiiESSili found in zircon sand. "Its time to make the market more competitive," Yih said. "We will be able to refine between three and four million tons of zirconium per year, and expect to increase that amount later." Of the 1000 acres, only 50 to 100 will be used for initial buildings and another 200 for evaporation ponds. "The rest of the land is an investment in the future," said Westing-hous- e vice president joseph C. Rengel. "There are currently 69 nuclear plants in the United States and that number will greatly increase through the 1980s as this country reduces its dependence on foreign oil." No contractor has been named for the plant, but construction is expected to be underway this summer. Initially, it will employ 430 people with an estimated $1 million monthly payroll. Chlorine evaporation Zirconium itself is not a radioactive chemical, but because of its low absorption, it is used to make fuel rods; which contain the uranium pellets used in nuclear power; systems. Producted from sand mined in Australia, the local zirconium will be made through a chemical process combining it with coke and chlorine. CO and C02 will be the primary gases emitted into the atmosphere at the plant, but Yih said a small portion of chlorine will also escape. "The health officials tell us it will be no more chlorine than evaporates from a pool of chlorinated water," he added. Most of the solid byproducts of the process, including silicon and hafnium, will be sold, but Yih said a small portion of solid waste will also be hauled away for disposal. The refined zirconium will be fabricated and sold mainly to nuclear plants own-- ; ed by utilities. About 20 per- cent of the ore is expected to-ente- FEATURES REGULAR PRICED OPEN: 169.95 MON-SA- T 9 AM-- 6 PM 3 WORKING REGISTERS HIGH SPEED BUFFERED KEYBOARD ITEM COUNTER PRINT SWITCH PERCENT KEY CONSTANT PERCENT KEY 2 MEMORIES TOTAL & GRAND TOTAL KEY AUTOMATIC SHUTOFF 2 COLOR PRINTOUT another promising zir- conium market the chemical! i ! ( ' i Demand will explode for zir "The demand conium is about to explode," because chemical companies are just beginning to realize the practicality of using zirconium as a metal for construction of vats and utensils. With the nuclear field and chemical industry demands, it wont be Yih said, non-corrosi- ve WE SERVICE ALL ELECTRONIC CALCULATORS. PHONE ORDERS ACCEPTED 262-749- 4 CUSTOM MADE DIES STEEL RULE Laser Cut Jigged Blanking Light Gauge Metal Dies Prototype Plastic Machining Gasket Makers Box Printers Manufacturing Let Us Handle Rebuildcrs Serving Pump Your Special Needs. Formerly Ray Belter Co. - Now located at 840 W. 1700 So. 11, Sait Lake City, Utah 84104 (801)972-473- 0 CC CCCCV long before Western Zirconium will need to build more Utah." On top of that, Yih said, facilities in Western Zirconium is already investigating the grade of zircon sand found in Utah in hopes of reducing shipping costs by using local resources. "A local mine would add quite a few more jobs to the economy here," he said. II |