Alex WellersteinVerified account

@wellerstein Secrecy about materials, equipment, and other engineering aspects vastly slowed development of peaceful nuclear energy

@Atomicrod This is because reactors were not, in their initial incarnation, "peaceful" — they were machines for making plutonium.

@wellerstein Were piles that produced controlled chain reactions and heat that engineers knew could be captured and used. Useful knowledge

@wellerstein Jet engines, radar, computers were also not, in their initial incarnation, peaceful. They were tools of war fighting.

@Atomicrod And the potential payoffs (economically) not entirely obvious at the time. Also, US considered uranium scarce until 1950s.

@wellerstein Economic risks of allowing atomic energy were apparent to energy establishment. Szilard, Weinberg, Daniels saw opportunity

@Atomicrod Szilard et al. wanted peaceful energy in part because they wanted something good to come out of the bomb.

@wellerstein Szilard took out a patent on chain reaction in 1934, LONG before anyone started thinking about bombs. He was a commercial guy