RD-107, TASK ORDER 2. POWER SOURCE DEVELOPMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03424A002400070010-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: October 19, 1956
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/22 : CIA-RDP78-03424AO02400070010-9
Office MemorandumsG UNITED STAT' dGtY ERNMENT
svBJBCT: RD-107.. Task order 2. Power Source Development
New York on 11 October 1956 to monitor development aciivitiy uuaer
the subject task order. Present were:
u
thermocouple development during a visit to rrance Canada. As a res ~:
of the above, the contractor is convinced that the USSR has a thermocouple J
with a 1096 efficiency, at least in the laboratory and perhaps in production.
1956
2. The contractor is in receipt of translated Soviet scientific papers
on thermocouples obtained fr and in addition
has had sinme contacts with qualified scientists who have conferred directly
with ectured on Soviet
lt
resear ,
in thermocoup gn by two years.
3. The significance of high efficiency thermocouples compares with the
importance of the transistor. Thermocouples, as a power source, convert heat
to electrical energy. Conversely, the application of a DC potential across
the couple increases the molecular agitation and liberates heat. However,
if the polarity of the applied voltage is reversed molecular agitation is
arrested and heat is absorbed. This latter action is known as the Peltier
effect and is the key to electronic refrigeration. There are immediate
applications for a device of such efficiency in missile and supersonic
aircraft design as well as in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.
The enthusiasm with which this high-efficiency thermocouple was received left
me with the impression that 0 is ready and willing to make available its
own scientific talent and money to further thermocouple efficiency once
physical proof of Soviet accomplishments are established. See Paragraph 4
below.
ch is even with the U.S. in ferrite development and leads the U.S.
F1 r~