The Rickover Effect: How One Man Made A Difference - Hardcover

Rockwell, Theodore

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 059574527X ISBN 13: 9780595745272

Publisher: iUniverse, 2002

Synopsis

As Technical Director, Rockwell worked alongside the legendary Admiral Rickover for the first 15 years, creating the nuclear navy, then the world s first commercial atomic power station. Rickover was both admired and hated as he forcibly reformed both bureaucracies and industries to harness the fearsome atom.

About this title

About the Author

Theodore Rockwell has been directly involved in nuclear power for nearly half a century. After completing his master's degree in chemical engineering at Princeton in 1944, he worked on the atomic bomb project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In 1949 he joined Rickover's Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, where he became director of the Nuclear Technology Division. In 1954 he was made technical director, helping to assure the safe operation of nuclear-powered naval vessels and the creation of the world's first commercial nuclear-power plant. He left the program in 1964 to set up an engineering firm with two colleagues in Washington, D.C.

In 1960 Rockwell was awarded an honorary ScD degree for his contributions to the development of atomic power. He earned distinguished service medals from the Navy and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, an "Award for Exemplary Achievement in Public Administration" from the William A. Jump Foundation, and the first "Lifetime Contribution Award", henceforth known as the "Rockwell Award" from the American Nuclear Society. He is editor of The Reactor Shielding Design Manual and coauthor of The Shippingport Pressurized Water Reactor and Arms Control Agreements. He has written numerous technical papers and several magazine articles, including "Frontier Life Among the Atom Splitters" for Saturday Evening Post, "Bred for Fury" for Time, and "Heresy, Excommunications and Other Weeds" for New Realities.

From Publishers Weekly

Rockwell, Rickover's former technical director, has written a notable, anecdote-rich biography of the controversial "father of the nuclear navy." In 1951 Hyman G. Rickover (1900-1986), then an obscure captain in the navy's Bureau of Ships, set himself the task of creating an atomic submarine. Four-and-a-half years later, USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear sub, joined the fleet. In lay language, Rockwell explains how he accomplished this amazing feat. For one thing, Rickover gave new meaning to the concept of industrial quality control. Rockwell also makes clear why his former boss was widely hated and feared, and provides examples of his unique ability to infuriate as well as inspire. Most prominently, Rockwell demonstrates Rickover's genius for getting things done. Finally, he relates the strange story of Rickover's enforced retirement in 1982 at the instigation of Navy Secretary John Lehman, who accused him of accepting favors from contractors. If this fine biography has a flaw, it is the author's failure to explain adequately why Lehman was so implacably hostile to the man who immeasurably strengthened the United States Navy. Illustrations.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 059574527X
• ISBN 13: 9780595745272
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 488