In the second year of nuclear development in the United Kingdom, in 1947, John Cockcroft ran a “Crazy Committee.” I make mention of this in my book, just a footnote to stress how far-ranging early reactor design thinking stretched. I’m sure someone can do a better job of combing the UK archives about those crazies but I only ended up with a few design minutes.
For some reason, this March 1947 agenda (I never did obtain the eventual minutes) entertains me every time I sight it. For one thing, it’s no longer the Crazy Committee, it’s now the Crazy Sub-Committee. What, you can think crazy thoughts but only in a sub-committee? And I’m amused that this third meeting offers so little stimulus to the attendees. What, only two wild ideas are on offer, “the use of fission products for power production” (I think this idea has been resurrected in the 2020s) and “the use of boilers for breeding” (now that’s way out there, let’s run at insane temperatures and boil our coolant?)? I presume the REAL sizzling notions will be raised by attendees under “any other business,” maybe ideas dreamt up during the morning commute?
Not everyone, I recognize, will be amused.
