In October 1947, David Lilienthal, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, set up an Industrial Advisory Group comprising mainly utility and manufacturing company execs. Lilienthal knew nothing much could happen with nuclear energy (i.e. commercial nuclear-generated electricity) during those early days when all the focus was on Cold War nuclear weapons work, all top secret stuff. He was hoping to prod the country to opening up sooner rather than later. Nothing much came of Lilienthal’s initiative, at least at a first glance, but a number of the execs and firms involved would later (in the early to mid to late 1950s) spearhead the development of nuclear power reactors.
So the Industrial Advisory Group is boring. The interim report it delivered to AEC eight months later is boring. But I do find myself intrigued by the mental image of this group of businesspeople being shown around Argonne by Walter Zinn. Zinn, who was there helping start up the very first (tiny-output) reactor in 1942, would spend the rest of his live trying to get businesspeople to invest large amounts of capital in nuclear power plants. In 1948 he commenced that sales process. He was a scientist but in June 1948, he was selling.
At the Argonne Laboratory, Dr. Zinn gave an extensive discourse on the research, planning, and development of various types of reactors and the possibilities of production of power from them. This was followed by a brief inspection of the facilities and equipment now available at the Argonne Laboratory
AEC. 1948. Preliminary draft of the Industrial Advisory Group report. “Industrial Advisory Group,” Box 25, E-67A1, RG 326. NARA II, College Park, Maryland.
