Free Republic

When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in October 1957, the United States feared that nuclear missiles would soon follow. How could we stop them? In the Dr. Strangelove era, no idea was too absurd, and Nicholas Christofilos, an elevator engineer turned nuclear physicist, had a doozy. Christofilos had only undergraduate degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering, but he had become a top military scientist at California's Livermore Laboratory with a reputation for audacious creativity. He suggested that an atomic explosion in space could generate a vast flux of electrons, which would form a shell of energy over Earth, a phenomenon...

August 26, 1945. Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico. Twenty four year old Harry Daghlian is working late, and alone. Both are violations of safety protocol, but Harry doesn’t care. He’s good at his job, and he’s careful. He doesn’t have to be working this late, six days ago the Japanese surrendered, and the war is over. But, that doesn’t mean his work isn’t still important. The bombs he helped build won the war, and he’s going to keep making them as long as he can. This night, Harry is working on placing the final tungsten bricks in a neutron...

CAMP DAVID, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush warned North Korea against nuclear testing but would not say whether he had information confirming that preparations for such a test were under way. "It's a hypothetical question," Bush told reporters. "And you're asking me to divulge intelligence information I have. I'm not going to do that, as you know." But he added: "If North Korea were to conduct a test, it's just a constant reminder for people in the neighborhood, in particular, that North Korea poses a threat." The US television network ABC reported on Thursday that North...

Newport News Daily Press September 16, 2002 A Week Of Atomic Tests, A Life In Medical Hell By Rick Rogers With eyes closed, Jim Lyerly recounts landing at Hickam Field, Hawaii, in January 1955 as if retelling a dream. He breathes deeply and names the island smells - orchids, pineapple and sugar cane all swirled by sea wind. The young man from east Rockingham, N.C., with an eighth-grade education had just been dropped into the lap of paradise - and he knew it. Lyerly enjoyed the Navy, but Hawaii made him love it. He decided on the spot that the...