1994 - Harold Etherington Memorial Tribute

This is a memorial tribute by the National Academy of Sciences to Harold Etherington. While he didn't work at Naval Reactors he was a pivotal early Program individual. His nuclear experience began in 1946 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he served first as section leader of the Gaseous Diffusion Plant and then became director of the Power Pile Division. From 1948 to 1953, as director of the Naval Reactors Division at Argonne National Laboratory, he made major contributions to the early basic reactor design for the United States Navy's first atomic-powered submarine, the Nautilus. From 1953 to 1959 he served as vice-president, Nuclear Products Division, ACF Industries. From 1959 to 1963 he served Allis Chalmers as vice-president and general manager, Atomic Energy Division. In these capacities he led design, construction, and startup of the Elk River Reactor, as well as working on the initial operation of Pathfinder, an integral superheat reactor. Harold retired from Allis Chalmers in 1963. For most of the period between 1965 and the early 1990s, he served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) then as a member emeritus, the only member ever so honored. By law, every commercial nuclear power plant has to be reviewed by the ACRS, prior to both the start of construction and the beginning of operation. A letter report from the ACRS to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (and after 1975 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) has to be in the public record before hearings on a construction permit or an operating license can proceed. As a member of the ACRS, Harold played a major role in the formulation of many decisions important to nuclear safety.