General

I wish I knew what this letter signified . . .

In 1969 Glenn Seaborg, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, faced not only an increasingly disenchanted public but also the coal industry, mobilising against nuclear energy in particular via the National Coal Association. I haven’t processed all my material on this struggle yet, but found this peripheral yet intriguing letter

Zinn and the rabid dogs

At the beginning of 1954, the Director of the Argonne National Laboratory, Walter Zinn, may well be one of the busiest scientists in America. Just weeks earlier, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his epochal “Atoms for Peace” speech and Zinn is the country’s point person for development of reactors for

Why

Nuclear power’s history – the history of reactors producing electricity – has held me in thrall for over a decade. Besotted, I’m writing a book on the subject. In addition I take delight in announcing this blog as my means of presenting some of that book’s offcuts: unneeded engrossing snippets