Wherever he went, Hyman Rickover relished using his late-in-life fame to make mischief. Christopher Hinton, informing his boss Plowden, at the tail end of 1954…
You will be interested to know that in conversation with Admiral Rickover and his assistant, who visited Risley on 15th December, they gave a vague indication that the Americans had run into difficulties over the use of helium as a coolant for nuclear reactors. The indication as reported to me was simply on the following line:- “We think the U.S. did you quite a good turn in denying you supplies of helium: it is the sort of coolant we should like to sell to Russia. We consider that you have got a very good coolant in Co2.
Hinton, Christopher. 1954. Hinton to Plowden, Dec. 21, 1954. AB 8/484. National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom.
