Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-12-02


Mobiles had left his blackened
coveralls behind. Everyone came
dressed" he said. I'VE thought
we'd be going out to dinner that
night"
Fermi, linn, Anderson, Szilard
and other scientists crowded
around the recording instruments
in the cramped spectators balcony
overlooking the racquets court.
There were SO many wheels the
cogs couldn't get Close" said No
bles in an observation the scant
histories of the moment have mis-
quoted.
There were AZ people in all.
1.-THE ones that became immor-
tai that day were the people who
didn't have anything else to do"
said Allison. Sayvetz said his pres
ence was so coincidental at this
moment of history he felt like
a drunk who had wandered on
stage"
DR.. William Sturm, a recent
graduate of the university, was at
the "scram" button that would
have sent one of the control rods
into the pile. II just got the job
because happened to be stand
ing nearby"
Monitoring Readings
Leona Marshall, who had been
working on instruments to meas
ure the pile. was monitoring the
readings along with Anderson.
Three men crowded on lift over
the pile. They were the suicide
squad. Their task was to topple
several 5-gallon jars Of cadmium
salt solution-a reaction depres-
sant-onto the pile if 1t ran away.
There were two other safety
measures. One was a control rod
tied to a rope that in turn was
secured to the balcony railing. Hill
berry dropped in and was given
an axe and told to cut the line
releasing the rod if ordered.
The graphite piling was over.
Mobiles was craning to try and
hear Fermi. Knuth didn't know
what all the dials meant but was
not arguing over day without
work. Maronde, outside, was cold.
Allison recalls there was an
animation among the scientists.
Leona Marshall thought it was a
quiet gathering, unusually so.
There might have been an air of
anti-climax. All the tests and
calculations had proven FERN
right. The reaction would only
prove what every one already
knew.
Yet, says Hilberry. "a scientist
always keeps a question mark in
his mind" The question mark
Disaster. The scientists answer
Scarcely a chance.
I'VE thought it was about as
dangerous as crossing street,
said one of the scientists.
The safest place to be is on
top of a reactor," said Hilberry
You don't have to worry about
an automobile crashing through
the wall which you can't say o
home"
IF II Hadn't Worked -"
If the billionth chance had &C
Cured and the pile had run away
Allison thinks the people acros
the street in the apartment
would have suffered some neu
iron damage. You, inside tn
court?
"Oh, we'd all have been killed
No doubt about that. But I don
think any one had an extra higl
pulse rate worrying about It,"
Il don't think any one woul'
have left the scene for an.
amounts of money" says Sturm
even considering a physicist!
salary"
That included George We'll, tn,
man who actually turned on tn
pile. He was standing down Of
the floor of the court, alone, mex
to the pile. In his hand was tn
end of a LX3-inch piece of WOO,
with a piece Of cadmium tacke,
on the end that was inside tn
pile. This was the last contrc
rod.
At Gas that morning, Fern
told linn to withdraw the rope
controlled rod and tie it to tn
balcony railing.
At 1927 Fermi called down
We'll: Pull it to 10 feet. George
We'll withdrew his rod, measur
ing the distance as he recalls 4
with a metal tape measure. TIL
pen of the graph measuring in
tensity in the pile went up, q
Fermi had predicted. Then
stopped. AS Fermi had predictet
Fermi ordered the rod out an
other foot. The radiation count
ers quickened their clacking. The
the reaction levelled off.
We'll might have been excuse
II his palms were becoming
touch moist. But he recalls bt
ing quite calm.
II had such confidence in Eel
MRS competence. genius an
thoroughness that I felt certai
when / pulled the control rod OF
1t would behave as he said
would"
Fermi Confident
Fermi reciprocated the conf
, dence. He mistrusted gadgets. #
, thought a man who could unde
stand English on a rod was bett'
than any machine that cou
, fail" Allison said.
Shortly before noon the aut,
, matte control rod whizzed in
the pile with a stunning comm
. ton. No danger. Its safety poi
had simply been set too low.
! 1T seemed" said Fermi late
like a good time to eat lunch
Leona Marshall remembers 81
had Fermi and Anderson over
her house TO eat. She doesn't r
member the conversation VI
particularly memorable.
Kubitschek ate across the sire
ulth tha GIRL ha mas later