ATOMIC ENERGY: Timetable

When will atom power plants be commercially feasible? Last week, from two experts, came a qualified "Now."

In Chicago, Commonwealth Edison's Chairman Willis Gale, head of the private group building the 180,000-kilowatt Dresden reactor 50 miles southwest of Chicago, told the Atomic Industrial Forum the plant would furnish power at a cost of about three-fourths of a cent per kilowatt-hour when completed in 1960. Said Gale: "This is about the same as the cost of power produced by our newest coal-fired plants." Utilityman Gale acknowledged that in computing the Dresden figures he disregarded the initial $15 million expended on researching...

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