Walter Cronkite in the Kitchen of 2001 (1967)

[gordianot]

11. Oh yes liquid sodium.

I worked in a factory in the 1970's where metal parts were heat treated in liquid sodium. It seems there were problems with the heat treater so they called in an expert. I was supposed to take him back and show him the treater since I did the testing on hardness. Liquid sodium is explosive all by itself if cooled too quickly. The expert turned visibly pale and he shut down the heat treater immediately and left the building. It seems the factory had installed a sprinkler system well above the heat treater thankfully it never went off. Such a wonderful idea liquid sodium and nuclear material. The liquid sodium makes a nice explosion all by itself when quickly cooled. At the time asbestos suits were also used by operators in the heat treater. Progress don't you know.