Alvin Weinberg
The Visionary of Oak Ridge
Dr. Alvin Weinberg was an eminent scientist, visionary, and nuclear pioneer who helped build the foundation that keeps Oak Ridge on the forefront of using nuclear energy for the greater good.
Weinberg was born in 1915 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. He entered the University of Chicago, where he received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in physics. In 1941, shortly after receiving his Ph.D. he was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project at its Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago. He was a protégé of Eugene Wigner and part of the group that demonstrated that a controlled nuclear chain reaction could be achieved, thereby establishing the basis for development of the first nuclear reactor. He and his teammates designed and developed the Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge and led the way for the production reactor at Hanford, which produced the plutonium that would ultimately be used for the atomic bomb that helped to end World War II.
Weinberg moved to Oak Ridge, Tenn., in 1945 to work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, known then as Clinton Laboratories) on the Manhattan Project, and worked to ensure that ORNL had a mission after the war. He became research director in 1948. This new mission included emphasis on the production and distribution of radioisotopes. In 1955, he was named director of ORNL, a position he held for 18 years before being fired in 1973 by the Nixon Administration. He was a proponent of the Molten Salt Reactor, not the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor proposed by the Atomic Energy Commission. As director of ORNL, he played a central role in addressing the nation’s energy crisis during the 1970s, which led to his next appointment.
Weinberg was named director of the Institute for Energy Analysis (IEA) at Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) in 1974. Under his guidance, the IEA and ORAU developed an international reputation, particularly in the study of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its effect on global warming, as well as alternative energy sources.
Weinberg retired from ORAU in 1985 and was named an ORAU Distinguished Fellow by their Board of Directors. In 1992, he was named chairman of the International Friendship Bell Committee, a project that commemorates Oak Ridge’s role in ending World War II and symbolizes a desire for peace among all countries. This was consistent with his life-long interest in the peaceful uses of science and technology as a benefit to the world.
Over his 65-year career, Weinberg was widely published and earned an extensive range of honors. Many of his early essays were published in a 1967 anthology titled, Reflections on Big Science. The First Nuclear Era: The Life and Times of a Technological Fixer, published in 2001, is an autobiography and includes his involvement in historic events.
Weinberg was a recipient of the Atoms for Peace Award, the Harvey Prize, the Heinrich Award and the Fermi Award. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He was also a Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.
Weinberg’s first wife Margaret died in 1969, and he later married Genevieve DePersio, who died in 2004. Margaret and Alvin had two sons, and their son David died in 2003. Weinberg was survived by his son, Richard. Weinberg died Oct. 18, 2006, at his home in Oak Ridge. He was 91.