A Small But Nagging Point

SIR (Submarine Intermediate Reactor) Naval Prototype Plant rolled into containment sphere at West Milton New York; March 20, 1954. From brochure "The Seawolf Story" in Will Davis library.
We're coming up on another anniversary of the startup of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in early December. That plant was more or less a Navy plant (at least in terms of the NSSS or Nuclear Steam Supply System) built not for powering ships but instead for powering businesses and homes. The move to get that done was rapid and fluid - and now there's maybe a hint of evidence that it could have been a returned favor to Admiral Rickover.