Alvin Weinberg Pushed Thorium Reactors

American nuclear physicist Alvin Weinberg worked on the Manhattan Project and later directed Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where his team developed molten-salt reactor technology. He pushed for a safer civilian reactor path, including thorium-based molten-salt designs, while US nuclear policy favored other reactor programs. In 1973, officials removed him as Oak Ridge director, partly because he kept pressing reactor safety questions that powerful backers did not want prioritized.

Previous Fact Next Fact