Press Release Historic Ship N.S. Savannah Open for Tours May 18, 2014 in Observance of Maritime Day N.S. Savannah Association, Inc. 4/17/2014 The unique, nuclear powered ship N.S. Savannah will be opened for tours at her pier in Baltimore, Md. on Sunday, May 18, 2014 as a part of the annual commemoration of Maritime Day. […]
Atomic Pioneers
Atomic Show #214 – Age of Radiance Author Craig Nelson
The Age of Radiance is good read that adds personality and details to a story I know pretty well – the history of the Atomic Age from the discovery of radiation, to the discovery of fission, to the Manhattan Project to apply the newfound power to the task of creating a war-ending super weapon, and […]
Alvin Weinberg’s liquid fuel reactors
A nuclear pioneer’s work on safer, cheaper, inexhaustible nuclear power is still inspiring nuclear environmentalists. by Robert Hargraves Physicist Alvin Weinberg worked on the Manhattan Project and later co-invented the pressurized water nuclear reactor. As Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory he led development of liquid fuel reactors, including walk-away-safe liquid fluoride thorium reactors with […]
The first Critmass, December 2, 1942
Seventy one years ago — on December 2, 1942, at 3:25 pm — Enrico Fermi and his team achieved the first controlled, man-made, self sustaining chain reaction in a simple reactor. In recognition of that historical event, several of my nuclear colleagues refer to December 2 as “Critmass” (short for critical mass). The first nuclear […]
Galen Winsor asks – Who owns the plutonium? How much is it worth?
Galen Winsor was a hands-on nuclear expert in the fullest sense of the phrase. Before irrational radiation protection rules were imposed, he and his colleagues directly handled used fuel. Since they needed to touch radioactive materials to accomplish their mission, they could not maximize distance or use shielding. Instead they limited their exposure time and […]
Ted Rockwell – thank you for a productive life and for your friendship
On Sunday, March 31, 2013, the world lost a nuclear energy pioneer. I lost a friend and mentor. Ted Rockwell passed away in his sleep during the wee hours of the morning on Easter Sunday. He was 90 years old; his death was the end result of a brief illness from which he was unable […]
Atomic Show #191 – 70th Anniversary of CP-1, the First Controlled Fission Chain Reaction
On Sunday, December 2, 2012, I gathered together a group of nuclear professionals to talk about the impact to human history of the construction and operation of Critical Pile 1 (CP-1). That simple assembly of graphite, uranium, and uranium dioxide was built in about 6 weeks. When measurements taken during construction indicated that the system […]
December 2, 1942 – Two pioneers present at dawn of fission era
In the summer of 2012, Argonne National Laboratory recorded the first hand memories of two members of the group of 49 engineers, scientists and students who were present when mankind first proved that it could control a fission chain reaction. Just imagine – you can watch a very recently recorded account from people who were […]
Celebrating the first self sustaining chain reaction at CP-1
On December 2, 1942, a small team of scientists and technicians methodically pulled neutron absorbing rods out of a carefully stacked pile of graphite bricks and natural uranium/uranium oxide spheres. The pile has been assembled in just a few weeks with a total project budget in the range of a few hundred thousand dollars. The […]
The Atomic Show #163 – Four Women in Nuclear Energy
On February 15, 2011, I gathered together a terrific group of four women who are each making a significant contribution to the expansion of nuclear energy and nuclear knowledge in the United States. I hope you enjoy the conversation and the stories. Meredith Angwin blogs at Yes Vermont Yankee and is the Director of the […]
Visions to Reality – Taking Inspiration From the 1953 Vintage Classic Titled ‘A’ is For Atom
The Atomic Age did not really start with a bang, and the scientists who discovered that neutrons were matter altering tools that enabled them to release vast quantities of heat energy were not really focused on building destructive weapons. Instead, atomic pioneers like Szilard, Fermi, Noddack, and Mitner were excited to be both unlocking stored […]
The Atomic Show #133 – Todd Tucker, Author Atomic America
Atomic America has a thought provoking subtitle – “How a Deadly Explosion and a Feared Admiral Changed the Course of Nuclear History”. The unifying story through the book is one that most nuclear trained people know a little about – the accident at the Army’s SL-1 that took place on January 3, 1961. In Atomic […]
