20. Minutes, GAC no. 20, Apr. 1, 1950, no. 30335, CIC/DOE.
21. Oppenheimer to Dean, May 11, 1951, no. 2098, JCAE.
22. Minutes, AEC meeting no. 471, Sept. 20, 1950, AEC/NARA.
23. Oppenheimer to Dean, Sept. 13, 1950, AEC/NARA; Oppenheimer to Dean, Nov. 1, 1950, no. 1757, JCAE; Bradbury to Tyler, Nov. 17, 1950, no. 71710, CIC/DOE.
24. “Military Objectives in the Use of Atomic Energy,” Dec. 29, 1950, attached to Lovett to McMahon, June 28, 1951, no. CCCLV, JCAE.
25. Ibid.
26. Ivan Getting, All in a Lifetime: Science in the Defense of Democracy (Vantage Press, 1989), 238–39; ITMOJRO, 57–8, 684; Ridenour to Saville, Mar. 6, 1951, no. 360.8, series 10, USAF/NARA.
27. MTA and Livermore: Pike to F. Matthews, Mar. 14, 1950, series 11, AEC/NARA; transcript of Larry Crooks interview, LLNL; “Site Selection Report MTA Project,” Mar. 15, 1950, Box 48–1, Contract 48 records, SBFRC.
28. Mansfield to files, June 15, 1951, no. 2141, JCAE.
29. Lawrence’s choice prompted Panofsky to write a poem about Livermore, inspired by Poe’s “The Raven.” Wolfgang Panofsky, Aug. 3, 1993, personal communication.
30. Choice of Livermore: Herbert York, The Advisors: Oppenheimer, Teller, and the Superbomb (Freeman, 1976), 121–26; Childs (1968), 418.
31. Minutes, June 3, 1950, GAC no. 21, AEC/NARA.
32. MTA: Heilbron, Seidel, and Wheaton (1981), 64–69.
33. Two-thirds of the MTA’s annual operating budget of $14 million would go to pay for electricity. Lawrence to Pitzer, Aug. 24, 1950, and “Reports—MTA Mark III,” box 12, LBL.
34. In executive session, Ernest told the Joint Committee that the MTA could be used to produce radiological agents in the event of a wartime emergency. “Production Particle Accelerators,” Apr. 11, 1950, no. 2041, JCAE.
35. John Derry, Mar. 15, 1999, personal communication; Cook to Derry, May 1, 1951, AEC general correspondence, 1951 folder, general administrative files, LBL.
36. Mark I: Various documents, folder 11, carton 33, EOL; Hamilton and Mansfield to Borden, July 26, 1950, no. CLXXXXI, JCAE.
37. Author interview with Hugh Bradner, La Jolla, Calif., Aug. 10, 1992; Alvarez (1987), 173–75.
38. Undeterred, Ernest had already proposed a Mark III to the commission. Lawrence to Pitzer, Nov. 20, 1950; Reynolds to Pitzer, Nov. 22, 1950, “Proposal for MTA Mark III” folder, box 8, LBL.
39. Panofsky: Nov. 2, 1950, memos, Sproul papers; Panofsky interview (1993).
40. Serber to Oppenheimer, Feb. 21, 1950, box 66, JRO.
41. Dec. 22, 1950, memos, Sproul papers.
42. Segrè, (1993), 237.
43. “Case History of a Failure: What the Loyalty Oath Did to the University of California,” Look, Jan. 29, 1952; “Loyalty Oaths and Academic Freedom: Address of John Francis Neylan before the Commonwealth Club, San Francisco,” Nov. 23, 1951, folder 44a, carton 13, EOL.
44. Bradner interview (1992).
45. Ulam later explained his idea in a Mar. 16, 1962, letter to Seaborg, which is attached to Bradbury to Anderson, Mar. 22, 1962, no. 125261, CIC/DOE.
46. Wheeler (1998), 211; author interview with Carson Mark, Los Alamos, N. Mex., May 30, 1991.
47. F. Ulam to Manley, Aug. 10, 1988, folder 6, box 15, Manley papers, LANL.
48. Rhodes (1995), 462–67.
49. Teller-Ulam idea: According to Fitzpatrick, the term radiation implosion was first used by Teller in Family Committee meetings on the design of George. Fitzpatrick (1998), 161–62. Teller confirmed in a 1993 interview that he discouraged talk of compression until Ulam’s invention, not believing the compression obtained by mechanical shock alone would be enough to make a difference. Teller interview (1993).
50. Oppenheimer to Conant, June 8, 1951, box 27, JRO.
51. H-bomb Chronology, 62, JCAE.
52. Galison (1997), 726.
53. Teller suggested a further improvement in the H-bomb—a fission “sparkplug” inside the thermonuclear fuel—a few weeks later. Rhodes (1995), 472–73. Comparing the relative contributions of Teller and Ulam, Bethe thought Teller deserved “90 percent” of the credit for invention of the superbomb. Bethe interview (1988). As recently as 2001, Teller disputed the importance of Ulam’s contribution. “Who Built the H-Bomb?: Debate Revives,” New York Times, Apr. 24, 2001; Teller (2001), 316.
54. George test: U.S. Defense Nuclear Agency, “Operation Greenhouse, 1951” (U.S. Government Printing office, 1983); Hansen (1988), 46–54; Teller and Brown (1962), 49–52; personal communications: Edward Teller, Feb. 26, 1999, and Louis Rosen, Mar. 3, 1999.
55. Louis Rosen, Mar. 3, 1999, personal communication. My thanks to Professor Rosen for a copy of his personal account of George.
56. Teller’s memory is that Lawrence was in the jeep; Rosen believes the rendezvous was at the airstrip. Teller (2001), 323–24.
14: A Bad Business Now Threatening
1. Minutes, May 10, 1951, GAC no. 26, no. 79443, CIC/DOE.
2. Princeton meeting: Anders (1987), 143–44; Hewlett and Duncan (1990), 542; ITMOJRO, 84; H-bomb Chronology, 65, JCAE; Teller (2001), 325–26.
3. May 31, 1951, Dean diary, Gordon Dean papers, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
4. Mike was meant to be a proof-of-principle test of radiation implosion and not a deliverable bomb. Housed in a six-story building, it weighed more than 80 tons. Mike: Hansen (1988), 54–55; Rhodes (1995), 490–96.
5. Hewlett and Duncan (1990), 542; ITMOJRO, 305; Rhodes (1995), 477.
6. DeHoffmann called back a few days later to say that Teller was rethinking his decision. Anders (1987), 161.
7. Mansfield to file, “Los Alamos Opinions of Dr. Edward Teller,” Aug. 29, 1951, no. 2330, JCAE.
8. Theoretical Megaton Group: Fitzpatrick (1998), 313; Rhodes (1995), 482–87.
9. “H-bomb Status Report,” Sept. 28, 1951, no. CDXVIII, and Walker to file, Nov. 13, 1951, no. CDXXXI, JCAE; “Who Built the H-Bomb? Debate Revives,” New York Times, Apr. 24, 2001.
10. Teller (2001), 327; Bradbury to McCormack, Mar. 31, 1951, no. 71793, CIC/DOE.
11. “It was a painful decision for me to leave Los Alamos,” Teller later wrote Strauss. “One of the most powerful reasons why I did so was the conviction that I could not decently argue for a second laboratory while staying at Los Alamos.” Teller to Strauss, Mar. 5, 1956, Teller folder, LLS/HHPL.
12. Walker to file, Oct. 3, 1951, no. 2398, JCAE; Hewlett and Duncan (1990), 556; Mansfield to file, Oct. 2, 1951, no. 2389, JCAE.
13. “Hal” to “Bill,” May 9, 1950, no. 1532, JCAE.
14. Hamilton to files, June 29, 1950, no. 1572, JCAE.
15. Borden to file, Mar. 10, 1950, no. 1429,
