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Sarah Kanouse, CoorsTek , Formerly Coors Porcelain, Golden, Colorado, 4 May 2014, Flickr
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Coors Porcelain

Coors Porcelain Company was acquired by Adolph Coors, owner of Adolph Coors Brewing Company, in 1920. At their headquarters in Golden, Colorado, “Coors USA” specialized in brewing and, with the help of Colorado School of Mines professor Herman Fleck, developed a revenue stream from heat-resistant, durable ceramic dinnerware. The Company assisted the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) with two main operations: ceramic insulation for radioactivity in the 1940s and fuel element production in the 1960s. The company handled such materials as beryllium oxide uranium fuel in its work with the AEC. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory awarded Coors a two-year contract in 1963 to produce enriched uranium and beryllium fuel elements for the Tory II-C nuclear ramjet engine. The company subsequently moved to produce other technological advancements: cold isostatic pressing in the 1940s; metallizing, tape casting and hot isostatic pressing in the 1950s; and multilayer ceramic capacitors in the 1960s.

Sources

Cooper Hewitt. "Coors Porcelain Company." Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Accessed July 31, 2020.

Emshwiller, John and Jeremy Singer-Vince. "Coors Porcelain." In Wastelands: America’s Forgotten Nuclear Legacy. The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2013. Accessed July 31, 2020.

HF Coors. "About Us." Accessed July 31, 2020.

“Out of the Kiln." Ceramic Bulletin 42, no. 1 (1963 January): 23a.

"Out of the Kiln." Ceramic Bulletin 41, no. 2 (1962 February): 16a.
 

Last Updated:

08/31/2021

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