Paul Cantonwine discusses Rickover with AMSE

The American Museum of Science and Energy recently hosted national technical director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and American Nuclear Society member Paul Cantonwine on its podcast, AMSEcast. There, Cantonwine discussed the creation of the nuclear navy and the life of Admiral Hyman George Rickover.

In that discussion, Cantonwine drew heavily on his experience compiling The Never-Ending Challenge of Engineering: Admiral H.G. Rickover in His Own Words (ANS, 2013), a book that chronicles Rickover's thoughts and perspectives collected from various speeches and papers.

The details: Cantonwine kicked off the discussion with an overview of Rickover's life. He was born in Poland in 1900 and in 1906, he and his family immigrated to the United States. Through a family friend, Rickover managed to secure an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy 12 years later. He graduated from the Academy in 1922 and went on to serve in the Navy for 63 years. That unprecedented length of service secured Rickover the title of longest-serving naval officer in U.S. history, as well as the longest-serving member of the U.S. military in general-a title which still belongs to Rickover today.

Rickover's career took him through many assignments and roles, but Cantonwine highlighted the 10-year period between 1946 and 1956 as particularly notable in cementing Rickover as "the father of the nuclear navy." In that period, the admiral went from learning for the first time about nuclear technology at Oak Ridge to overseeing the deployment of Shippingport Atomic Power Station. According to Cantonwine, "All of the foundational work of nuclear power in this country was really done in that period in the nuclear navy."

Go deeper: In the rest of their discussion, Cantonwine and AMSE executive director Alan Lowe dive much deeper into Rickover's life story, challenges, legacy, outlook, management style, and connection to Oak Ridge. The full episode, "Creating the Nuclear Navy: AMSEcast with Paul Cantonwine," is available on the AMSEcast website. Cantonwine's book on Rickover is available for purchase on the ANS website.