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Oct. 24, 1966
October 24, 1966
AEC Chairman Glenn Seaborg resigns
Dr. Glenn Seaborg, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, stepped down today amid controversy over the agency’s role in the Fermi disaster. He had held the position for the past five years since his appointment by President Kennedy [1]. Seaborg was among the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project under the direction of Enrico Fermi and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1951. Seaborg helped negotiate the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and joined the delegation to Moscow for its signing in 1963.
Seaborg has been a strong proponent of atomic power, especially breeder reactors, and this support may have led to his resignation. In 1963, Seaborg told the Joint Atomic Energy Committee that breeder reactors could double their fuel inventory in 15 to 25 years and assured the public that the risk of an accident would be extremely small, due to the conservative design of the reactor system and safeguards such as secondary systems. [2]
There has been no word on who will succeed Seaborg as chairman.