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The Age of Radiance

Page 59

by Craig Nelson


  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 128, 308, 310, 363

  Esau, Abraham, 105

  Ester, Julius, 26

  Falk, Jim, 369

  fallout shelters, 286, 376

  Fate of the Earth, The (Schell), 299, 328

  Fat Man bomb, 154, 197–98, 211, 216, 217, 230, 237, 371

  FBI

  Bohr and, 174–75

  Einstein and, 122

  Fermi and, 123

  Manhattan Project and, 149, 155, 171

  Oppenheimer and, 155, 170, 257, 258, 260, 261, 262

  spying detected by, 238–39, 240, 241, 242, 363

  Szilard and, 149

  Feather, Norman, 146

  Fermi, Enrico, 54, 55–72, 157, 369, 379

  atomic bomb design and, 168, 170, 266–67

  atomic bomb testing and, 201–02, 206, 207, 229, 266–67

  childhood of, 56–57

  death of, 265–66, 269

  decision to emigrate to the United States by, 64–65, 67, 68–72

  education of, 57–58

  element discovered by, 84

  family life of, 123

  German nuclear program and, 185

  Hahn’s research on nucleus and, 103–04

  Hanford reactor and, 164–65

  irradiation research of, 90

  legacy of, 55–56, 266, 369

  Los Alamos and, 158–59, 160, 225, 228, 247

  Manhattan Project and, 148, 154, 155

  marriage of, 66–67, 123, 159

  need for atomic bomb research advocated by, 114, 119

  Nobel Prize to, 69–70, 71, 83, 97, 110, 128

  nuclear fission experiment at Columbia and, 104, 105, 133

  nuclear reactor design by, 129–39, 149, 160, 163, 172, 185, 233

  Oak Ridge reactor and, 163

  on Oppenheimer, 261

  personality of, 165, 193, 225–26

  political campaigns and power of, 251

  postwar research at Chicago by, 225

  research approach of, 123–25

  research secrecy and, 112–13, 254

  on scientific advances, 379

  subatomic particle research of, 226

  Szilard and, 229

  Teller and, 147, 157, 158, 227, 228, 229, 247, 253, 265, 330

  thermonuclear fusion research and, 228, 235, 247, 254

  US military research and, 122–23

  University of Rome research on uranium of, 58–64, 91, 266

  uranium fission research of, 109–13, 124–25, 129, 266

  wartime status as enemy alien, 128–29

  Wigner on, 109

  Fermi, Giulio, 55, 69, 71–72, 128, 226

  Fermi, Laura, 55, 63–64, 65, 66–67, 69, 70, 71–72, 83, 115–16, 123–24, 126, 128, 129, 159, 170, 176, 225–26, 265, 266

  Fermi, Nella, 55, 65, 70, 71–72, 123, 128, 226–27, 266, 269

  Fermilab, 266

  Fermi paradox, 76, 337

  fermium, 253, 266

  Forsmark nuclear power plant, Sweden, 312

  Ferraby, Tom¸ 212

  Feynman, Richard (Dick), 151, 152, 164, 166, 202, 205, 247

  films, radiation theme in, 274–75, 310–11, 367

  First Lightning weapons test, 233–34, 235, 238, 239, 373

  Fischer, Emil, 86, 88

  fishermen

  thermonuclear testing affecting, 273, 340

  tsunami affecting, 344–45

  Fitch, Val, 196, 203

  Flerov, Georgi, 171–72, 193–94

  Flexible Response strategy, 283, 287, 372

  Fokker, Adriaan, 94, 95

  Fonda, Jane, 310

  France, 351, 364

  Franck, James, 89, 91, 93, 207, 225

  Frank, Barney, 334–35

  Frayn, Michael, 181

  French Academy of Sciences (Académie des Sciences), 14, 27, 34, 37, 188, 325

  Frisch, David, 150

  Frisch, Otto Robert, 91, 121

  atomic trigger device designed by, 166–67

  background of, 91

  Meitner’s relationship with, 97, 189, 190

  move to England by, 120

  move to Los Alamos by, 152–53

  nuclear fission research of Meitner and, 99–102, 103, 105, 144

  thermal diffusion and, 162–63

  Frisén, Jonas, 378

  Fromm, Friedrich, 183

  Fuchs, Elizabeth, 170–71

  Fuchs, Klaus

  background of, 170–71

  Los Alamos research by, 152, 169–70, 227, 240

  spying by, 170, 171, 172, 173, 194, 237, 238, 239, 240, 251, 259

  Fukushima Daiichi power plant disaster, Japan, 5, 340–60

  deaths from, 360

  earthquake causing, 342–45

  evacuations after, 346, 349–50, 356

  evidence of ancient tsunami near, 342

  government regulators and, 352–53, 354

  health effects of, 350, 358

  heat generation from fission fragments in, 343–44, 345–46, 356

  information withheld in, 350–51, 354–55

  location of, 341–42

  plant damage after, 347–49, 351–52, 356, 359–60

  political effects of, 357, 359

  private industry’s relationship with government regulators in, 353

  radiation released in, 336, 355, 357, 358

  rehabilitation of area and resettlement after, 358–59

  steam venting in, 346–47, 349

  TEPCO’s responsibilities after, 351–52

  tsunami damage in, 344–45, 352–53

  US consultants on, 349, 351, 355, 356

  workers at, 346–48, 349, 352, 353–55, 356–57

  Fuller, Loie, 33–34

  Gabor, Dennis, 75, 79

  Gale, Robert, 319, 349

  Gamow, George, 94, 99, 248, 282

  Gard, Robert, 334

  Gardner, Meredith, 238, 242

  Garson, Greer, 51

  Garwin, Richard, 225, 247–48, 251

  Geiger, Hans, 74, 87, 89, 113

  Geitel, Hans Friedrich, 26

  genetic abnormalities, and radiation, 326

  Giannini, Gabriel Maria, 59–60

  Gibertson Company, 375

  Giesel, Friedrich, 31, 35, 188

  Girshfield, Viktor, 290

  Glicksman, Maurice, 265

  Gold, Harry, 170, 172–73, 240–41, 242, 251

  Goldstine, Herman, 248

  Goncharov, German, 255, 275

  Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 132, 282

  Gopnik, Adam, 337

  Gorbachev, Mikhail

  Chernobyl accident and, 318, 359, 361

  International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and, 364

  on nuclear weapons, 328

  proposed nuclear arms reduction treaty and, 329–30, 332–33

  Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative and, 331, 332

  START treaty and, 333

  Göring, Hermann, 183

  Goudsmit, Samuel, 186–87

  Gore, Albert Sr., 293, 294

  Great War (World War I), 32–33, 36, 74, 89, 91, 193, 372

  Greenglass, David, 171, 172, 173, 194, 237, 240–41, 251

  Greenglass, Ruth, 171, 173, 241

  Greenglass, Samuel, 171

  Greenewalt, Crawford, 134, 138, 164

  Greisen, Kenneth, 204

  Groves, Leslie

  Allied bombing targets recommended by, 186

  atomic bomb and, 197, 198, 199, 206, 207, 202, 229

  Bohr surveillance ordered by, 174–75

  bombing of Japan as signal to Russia and, 222

  bombing of Vemork plant, Norway, and, 178

  intelligence missions of, 185–86

  Los Alamos and, 151, 157, 169, 225, 228

  Manhattan Project management by, 147–50, 156, 165, 175, 197–98, 199

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory and, 161, 162–63

  Oppenheimer and, 262

  postwar atomic arms research an
d, 229, 230

  Russian scientists and, 194

  silver supply and, 161

  Soviet threat and, 227

  Szilard and, 127, 150, 207, 208

  uranium source and, 154

  Grubbe, Emil, 13

  Haber, Fritz, 75, 89, 92, 372–73

  Hahn, David, 362–63

  Hahn, Edith, 93

  Hahn, Otto

  Allied capture and internment of, 186–87, 188–89, 190

  atomic bomb research and, 113, 121, 183, 187

  awards and recognition of, 190

  Hitler’s Jewish laws and, 92, 93

  on Meitner, 86, 96, 98, 191

  Meitner’s research with, 64, 84, 85–87, 88–90, 98, 99, 100, 102, 103, 121, 189, 190

  Meitner’s treatment by, 92, 93, 96–97, 102–03, 189, 190–91

  Nobel Prize to, 188–89, 190

  as scientist in Nazi Germany, 190–91

  Hall, Joan, 242

  Hall, Theodore, 171, 194, 237, 242

  Hanford, Washington, reactor complex, 159, 160, 164–65, 166, 168, 175, 188, 225, 282

  Harding, Warren G., 50

  Harris, Michael, 253, 272

  Harrison, Richard Stewart, 144

  Haukelid, Knut, 178

  Havenaar, Johan, 323, 324

  Hawkins, David, 192

  Hawks, H. D., 12–13

  H-bombs. See hydrogen (Super) bombs

  health

  downwinders and, 271–72, 336

  radiation experiments and, 270–71

  thermonuclear testing’s long-term effects on, 340, 356

  Heisenberg, Werner, 93

  Allied capture of, 186–87

  atomic bomb research and, 113, 183

  Bohr and, 94, 178, 179–82, 188

  early research of, 58, 59

  German bomb project and, 176, 177, 178–83, 185–88, 191

  German denunciations of, 176

  Groves’s surveillance plans for, 185–86

  personality of, 66

  reactor design of, 175, 176–77, 183–84, 186

  rumors of death of, 184

  Teller and, 77

  Hendrix, John, 161

  Hersey, John, 215–16

  Heslep, Charter, 258

  Hess, Kurt, 92, 93, 95

  Hilberry, Norman, 134–35, 135–36

  Himmler, Heinrich, 94, 176

  Hinckley, John Jr., 327

  Hinton, Joan, 150, 203

  Hirohito, Emperor, 222, 351

  Hiroshima, Japan, bombing, 211–16

  American reactions to, 116, 219, 220

  attitudes toward nuclear weapons after, 6, 167, 187, 202, 230, 254, 271, 313, 330, 336, 363, 367, 369

  biological and health effects of, 7, 365–66

  bombing flight in, 216, 221, 222, 371

  damage caused by, 210, 211, 213, 214, 371

  effectiveness of bombing of, 222

  Japanese reactions to, 215–16, 219, 222, 350–51, 359

  number of deaths from, 214–15, 366, 371

  peace memorial for, 216

  recovery of city during decades after, 374

  Soviet reaction to, 232

  survivors (hibakusha) of, 7, 213, 214, 215, 219, 350–51, 359, 365–66, 371

  technology of, 54, 154, 166, 211, 212–15

  US planning for, 221, 237

  US support for, 228, 310

  Hiss, Alger, 242–43

  Hitler, Adolf, 69

  concern about nuclear arms use by, 153, 175, 176, 178, 180, 184, 208, 221, 227, 231

  German émigrés’ hatred of, 112, 184, 187–88, 189, 192

  Jews and scientists exiled under, 91, 92–93, 98

  Planck’s conversation with, 91

  Speer’s support of nuclear research and, 183

  Szilard’s concerns about, 80, 82, 114

  von Stauffenberg’s assassination attempt on, 186

  Hooper, Don, 266

  Hooper, Stanford, 114

  Hoover, J. Edgar, 122, 123, 241, 257, 260

  Hornig, Dan, 198–99

  Horthy, Miklós, 74, 77

  House Un-American Activities Committee, 257

  Howard, Charles Henry George “Mad Jack,” 120

  Humphrey, Hubert, 256

  Hutchins, Robert, 129

  hydrogen (Super) bombs

  accidental dropping of, 305

  long-term health effects of testing of, 340, 356

  Oppenheimer‘s opposition to, 228, 258, 259, 262, 264

  research secrecy on, 254

  Soviet testing of, 275

  Teller’s research on, 125, 158, 227–28, 235, 236, 239, 247, 249–50, 252, 253, 258, 259, 262, 264, 275, 372

  testing of Bravo at Bikini, 272–73, 275, 340, 356

  testing of Castle series of, 273, 274

  testing of Mike at Elugelab, 250, 251, 252–54, 282–83, 372

  Ulam’s design for, 248–50, 252, 253, 262, 264, 265, 275

  Ignatenko, Lyudmilla, 318

  India, 227, 337, 339, 361, 365, 373

  Institute for Biological Studies, 268

  Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering, Minsk, Belarus, 312–13

  Interim Committee, 206, 208, 211, 228, 371

  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 305, 338, 356, 364

  International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), 364

  “In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” 261–65

  iodine, 188, 215, 271, 308, 336, 350, 356, 365, 377

  Iran, 6, 338, 373

  Israel, 334, 337–38, 360, 370

  Jaczko, Gregory, 355

  Japan, 364

  demand for surrender of, 211

  earthquakes in, 342–45, 352–53

  firebombing of, 209–11

  nuclear power plants in, 340–41, 342

  nuclear research in, 210

  regulation of nuclear technology in, 341

  thermonuclear testing affecting fishermen from, 273, 340

  See also Fukushima Daiichi power plant disaster, Japan; Hiroshima, Japan, bombing; Nagasaki, Japan, bombing

  Joachimsthal, Czechoslovakia, mine, 36, 195, 231

  Johnson, Lyndon, 211, 337

  Joliot-Curie, Irène, 61, 82, 376

  death of, 188

  deuterium source for, 120

  education of, 49–50

  family background of, 25, 30, 31, 39, 41, 48

  fame of, 98, 369

  Fermi’s research and, 90

  Hahn and Meitner on errors in research of, 90

  man-made radiation research of, 61, 105

  marriage of, 51–52

  Meitner’s research and, 103

  nuclear fission research of, 112, 117, 120, 142, 193

  uranium sources and, 154

  work with husband Fred, 52–53, 54, 61, 62, 90, 103, 112

  Joliot-Curie, Jean-Frédéric (Fred), 376

  deuterium source for, 120

  French resistance work of, 188

  health of, 188

  marriage of, 51–52

  nuclear fission research of, 142

  uranium sources and, 154

  work with wife Irène, 52–53, 54, 61, 62, 90, 103, 112

  Jungk, Robert, 178, 180, 181

  Kahn, Herman, 290–91, 292

  Kan, Naoto, 346, 351, 352, 357

  Karle, Isabella, 127

  Kaufman, Irving, 241–42

  Kazakhstan, atomic tests in, 233, 235, 336, 372

  Kelvin, Lord William Thomson, 22–23, 39

  Kennan, George¸ 256–57

  Kennedy, John F., 265

  arms race and, 276–77, 282, 289, 376

  atomic satellite programs and, 305–06

  Bay of Pigs invasion and, 286, 293–94

  Cuban Missile Crisis and, 294–99

  fallout shelters and, 286

  joint moon mission proposal and, 284

  Khrushchev and, 285–86

  missile gap and, 282, 285–86, 293–94

  nuclear air power programs and, 305
r />   nuclear defense strategies and, 288–89

  Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and, 374

  presidential campaign against Nixon by, 282, 284–85

  Kennedy, Robert, 297

  KGB, 172, 238, 240, 292, 293, 327

  Khan, Abdul Qadeer, 338

  Khrushchev, Nikita, 370–71

  arms race and¸ 245, 254, 267, 276–77, 284–85, 373

  Bay of Pigs invasion and, 286, 293–94

  Cold War and, 300

  Cuban Missile Crisis and, 294–95, 296–97, 298, 299

  joint moon mission proposal and, 284

  rise to power by, 254

  Szilard’s meeting with, 267

  US perception of threats from, 256

  Khrushchev, Sergei, 246, 256, 284, 290, 294–95, 297, 298

  Killing a Nation defense strategy, 277, 292, 293, 372

  Kim Il Sung, 243, 373

  King, Ernest, 221–22

  Kissinger, Henry A., 282, 335

  Kistiakowsky, George (Kisty), 169, 171, 173, 196, 197–98, 199, 202, 228

  Klaproth, Martin, 25

  Knuth, August, 130

  Kolbert, Elizabeth, 360–61

  Korea. See North Korea; South Korea

  Korean War, 236, 241, 245, 246, 279, 370, 376

  Kowalski, Joseph, 40

  Kubrick, Stanley, 267, 291–92

  Kurchatov, Igor Vasilievich, 192, 193, 194, 232–34, 237, 268–69

  Lamb, Willis, 102, 103

  Lamphere, Robert, 238, 239, 240

  Langevin, Emma Jeanne Desfosses, 44–46, 47, 48–49

  Langevin, Michel, 49

  Langevin, Paul, 51, 53

  affair with Marie Curie, 43–45, 46, 47–48, 49

  background and early life of, 32, 38, 40

  Irène Curie’s career and, 49, 53

  marriage with Jeanne, 44–46, 48–49

  Langevin-Joliot, Hélène, 49

  Langewiesche, William, 213

  Lanouette, William, 122

  Larionov, Nikolay, 255

  Laurence, William, 189, 204, 217–18

  Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 174, 369

  atomic bomb and, 199, 206, 207, 261

  big science of, 141, 252

  cyclotron at Berkeley built by, 140–41, 145, 193

  Livermore lab and, 252, 262, 282

  Manhattan Project and, 147–48, 154, 220

  Nobel awarded to, 145

  Oppenheimer and, 141–42, 262

  plutonium discovery by, 146

  postwar research and, 225, 228

  thermonuclear fusion research and, 228, 229, 251–52

  Lawrence, John, 141, 145

  Lawrence, Molly, 142, 220, 282

  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California. See Livermore Laboratory, California

  Leahy, William, 222

  Lehman, Joe, 151

  LeMay, Curtis Emerson

  aerial reconnaissance and, 279–80

  civilian oversight of armed forces and, 245–46, 279

  Cuban Missile Crisis and, 295, 296, 298, 299

  firebombing of Japan by, 208, 209–12, 221, 371

 

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