November 6, 1966
Alvin Weinberg appointed new head of AEC
President Johnson announced that he will appoint Dr. Alvin Weinberg to replace outgoing Atomic Energy Commission chariman Glenn Seaborg. The President’s new appointee acknowledged the danger inherent in nuclear power. ''We nuclear people have made a Faustian bargain with society,'' he said, comparing atomic power to a literal deal with the devil. [1]
Weinberg is currently the director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, a post he has held since 1955. He currently oversees the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, a project that tests a novel reactor design [2][3]. The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment uses what is called a liquid fluoride thorium reactor, which is very different from other reactor designs. Unlike other reactors, where the fuel sits in the reactor core while coolants circulate through, in a liquid fluoride thorium reactor the molten salts act as both a carrier for the fuel and as a coolant. [4] In June of last year, the reactor achieved criticality.
Weinberg believes that, if successful, this experiment may produce a safer technology for atomic power plants. But opposition to nuclear research in the wake of Fermi is reaching a fever pitch. Several people were arrested during anti-nuclear protests that took place yesterday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, only 30 miles from the Fermi plant. The protest was organized by radical student organization called “No Nukes”, which was founded in the wake of the meltdown by Harvey Wasserman [5], a student at the University of Michigan. Earlier this year, Wasserman gained nationwide attention for an editorial published in the Michigan Daily entitled “The Use of Marijuana: It Should be Legal”. [6]