1960 - Speech on the Development of Nuclear Propulsion

This is historically a wonderful speech given by Honorable James H. Wakelin, Jr. as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development, on March 29, 1960 before the 22nd Annual Meeting of the American Power Conference in Chicago IL. Highly recommended to read.

The purpose of the speech was to relate how technological progress in government depends on a series of critical decisions, each one of which is based on a calculated risk of significant funds. He emphasizes that it is a grave responsibility to make the decision to commit millions of dollars to a radical new development which might end up as a colossal failure. Wakelin starts the story of story of nuclear propulsion in March 1939 with the discovery of Uranium fission through Nautilus going to sea in 1955.

At the end Wakelin relates that, "It must also be remembered that when the Navy first conceived the idea of a nuclear powered submarine in 1939, the principle of a controlled chain reaction had not even been proved. At the end of World War II we still had no idea of how to create useful power from nuclear

fission. In the over-all analysis, I believe that there were no serious delays. All in all it was a magnificent cooperative achievement by many people in many places. It was a masterful display of the ability of this nation to advance its technology, and a triumph in which we can all take great pride."

This speech was published in the U.S. Naval Institute September 1960 Issue of Proceedings (Vol 86/9/691) - available here - and attributed to Captain Carl O Holmquist and Russell S Greenbaum. Holmquist was Wakelin's technical assistant.