Edward Teller The first major success at Livermore Part 1 126147

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To listen to more of Edward Teller’s stories, go to the playlist: • Edward Teller (Scientist) • Hungarian-American physicist, Edward Teller (1908-2003), helped to develop the atomic bomb and provided the theoretical framework for the hydrogen bomb. He remained a staunch advocate of nuclear power, calling for the development of advanced thermonuclear weapons. [Listener: John H. Nuckolls] • • TRANSCRIPT: Now having told you about the first difficulties we had in Livermore, I would like to mention to you the first real success. It was connected with the activities of a remarkable man in the Navy, a man who incidentally was not appreciated by the Navy, at least not originally. The name is Rickover, I met him first in Los Alamos. He came to me and introduced himself- I am Captain Rickover. I am a dope. So, my eyebrows went up slightly and he says- Yes. I'm a dope. Here are the papers to prove it. I took a course in nuclear engineering and I am a Doctor Of Pile Engineering, DOPE for short, and I am planning submarine reactors, reactors for submarines which will allow the submarines to run practically without refuelling, practically for ever. He died many years later as a famous Admiral Rickover and the submarines that he introduced have become extremely important. What had Livermore to do with it? A very few years later in the late '50s, the Navy called a conference in Massachusetts somewhere, the name of the place, I don't know why, or the name of the conference was Nobska. - Can you put rockets carrying nuclear explosives on these submarines? I headed a little group from Livermore and the head of the physics department; another little group from Los Alamos and we found ourselves with very complete lack of unanimity because we Livermorians said it could be done, Los Alamos said it could not. Having argued in this vague and inconclusive fashion for a while, the man chairing the meeting, I forget his name, asked me- You said it can be done. How much time? How much money? What weight? What yield? Of course I did not know. I did not talk about something that was done, I talked about something that I guessed could be done. So I gave him my guesses.

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