In June 1948, Robert Oppenheimer delivered a stinging indictment to the AEC Commissioners for dragging their heels on what he considered the most crucial application for atomic energy – nuclear power. While harboring serious misgivings about the weapons application of atomic energy, Oppenheimer fervently believed in the peaceful uses of the atom. “We despair of progress in the reactor program,” the Father of the Atomic Bomb told the Commission. As scientific director of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer had steered the project to its successful and horrific completion in an astonishing two-and-a-half years. Now, almost three years since the war ended, the AEC had made next to no progress with nuclear power.

Oppenheimer was not alone in his frustration. Enrico Fermi considered reactor development to have lost its zest. In the early days of atomic energy, a period that Oppenheimer cheerfully referred to as one of “general deviltry,” a small group of scientists was allowed to work with almost complete independence. Such autonomy had been replaced with mounting lists of rules and regulations. From the perspective of these atomic pioneers, the AEC was increasingly bogged down and handicapped by hesitancy. The days of vision and daring appeared to be in the past.