While Oppenheimer did have “left” leanings, and some participation in communist
organizations, I’m not aware of any solid evidence that he was a significant
risk factor for the bomb program. After WWII, like many of the other
physicists, he argued for arms control and not pursuing the “super” which
Teller was such a proponent of. His appearance at the anti-communism trials was
politically motivated rather than from any real concern about his security risk.
Also remember that as time went on, Teller made increasingly grandiose claims
about various things he was interested in pursuing, but with basically no
success (e.g. bomb pumped x-ray lasers). My impression is that Teller’s view of
reality was pretty warped by his self-image.
While I suspect having discussions with Teller would have been fascinating, I
think Oppenheimer and Groves would have been able to shed a much more accurate
light on early history of the civilian energy program, AEC, etc.
Yes, the current US nuclear regulatory environment and industry are in bad
shape. Tragic as a well run fission program is probably our best option for
staving off as much of anthropogenic warming as we can. Test the hell out of a
simple, safe, efficient SMR design and build a crapload of them.
-Pete
On Dec 26, 2019, at 20:27, Rand Simberg <simberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
a) He was ideologically suspect (via Teller) and therefore:
b) He ultimately had little influence.
On 2019-12-26 16:19, Anthony Cesaroni wrote:
Why not?
Anthony J. Cesaroni
President/CEO
Cesaroni Technology/Cesaroni Aerospace
http://www.cesaronitech.com/
(941) 360-3100 x101 Sarasota
(905) 887-2370 x222 Toronto
-----Original Message-----
From: arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Rand Simberg
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2019 6:58 PM
To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AR] Re: Alternative propulsion was: Flying to Orbit with Hydrogen?
Definitely not Oppie.
On 2019-12-26 15:54, Anthony Cesaroni wrote:
BTW Henry, if it was possible, who would be your single choice for a
one on one discussion on the topic? Groves, Oppenheimer or Teller?
Anthony J. Cesaroni
President/CEO
Cesaroni Technology/Cesaroni Aerospace http://www.cesaronitech.com/
(941) 360-3100 x101 Sarasota
(905) 887-2370 x222 Toronto
-----Original Message-----
From: arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Henry Spencer
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2019 6:09 PM
To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [AR] Re: Alternative propulsion was: Flying to Orbit with
Hydrogen?
On Wed, 25 Dec 2019, Anthony Cesaroni wrote:
Henry,I maybe 75% agree. My reservations are because, I'd say, given the
Fission has always be a government controlled and funded energy
source.
It's current limitations and lack of real progress are self-imposed.
It's broken and can't be fixed in this regard. Blame Leslie Groves
and his successors.
other applications of the technology, a certain amount of government
control really was inevitable even if the early history had been
different.
This
applies especially strongly to space applications, which have a
tendency to want (near-)bomb-grade fission fuels.
Henry