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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Stephane Groueff

Oral History
The Search for Atomic Power
April 19, 2016
Ed Wood: January 21, 1954 will go down as a significant day in human history. A milestone in man’s scientific progress. For on that day, at Groton, Connecticut, was launched the first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus, powered by the world’s first atomic engine designed to do useful work. With this achievement, man at last has […]
Oral History
Raymond Grills’s Interview
April 6, 2016
Stephane Groueff: Dr. Raymond Grills, DuPont, Wilmington. Raymond Grills: I’m not sure just where we ought to start on explaining this, but perhaps we’ll explain it in this way. First off, the slug itself was a piece of metal, an inch to an inch-and-a-half in diameter and approximately five to six inches long. This material, […]
Oral History
Clarence Larson’s Interview
March 15, 2016
Stephane Groueff: Interview with Dr. Clarence Larson—L-A-R-S-O-N—head of the Union Carbide’s operations at Oak Ridge, a chemist. Dr. Larson was connected with the electromagnetic separation process during the war, and he was a personal friend of Dr. Lawrence [Ernest O. Lawrence]. He’s married to the daughter of Dr. Stafford Warren, who was also with the […]
Oral History
James C. Hobbs’s Interview – Part 3
March 8, 2016
Stephane Groueff: Mr. Hobbs, part three. J.C. Hobbs: The discussion in connection with piping and all of these fancy bends. Badger Company in Boston, I think, had the contract for the copper expansion joints. Groueff: Between pipes? Hobbs: Between pipes, so it would take care of expansion. The expansion joints had been located where an […]
Oral History
Harry Allen and Robert Van Gemert’s Interview
March 4, 2016
Harry Allen: Mr. Wilson and company set us up a purchase request for a barber chair, because they couldn’t get off work in time to get their hair done. Robert Van Gemert:  There was only one man cutting hair, I think, up there. Allen: The barber service was extremely limited, and we just happen to […]
Oral History
General Kenneth Nichols’s Interview – Part 3
February 23, 2016
General Kenneth Nichols: —found we did not have the authority to satisfy DuPont. Stephane Groueff: But why did DuPont challenge your authority? Nichols: Because they had trouble, in World War I, being called munitions makers and investigated after World War I, so they are more conservative than most companies. And they wanted to have in their […]
Oral History
Colonel Franklin Matthias’s Interview (1965) – Part 2
February 1, 2016
Stephane Groueff: [Enrico] Fermi had the characteristics of a real genius. Colonel Franklin Matthias: Almost every time you would get in contact with him, something would come up that was impressive. Physically, he was a small man, unimpressive person, but he grew real large when he started talking about things he knew. Groueff: Was he […]
Oral History
Newton Stapleton’s Interview
January 12, 2016
Stephane Groueff: It is working. Mr. Stapleton, you were with security during the Hanford period, or you were already here with security in DuPont in Wilmington? Newton Stapleton: I was in the security prior to Hanford. At the beginning of the war, DuPont got involved in building a plant for the French and British down […]
Oral History
James C. Hobbs’s Interview – Part 2
December 10, 2015
Stephane Groueff: Mr. Hobbs, part two. So to go now to how you were contacted for the Manhattan Project. J.C. Hobbs: You see, [Ludwig] Skog was one in the group and had me in on – Groueff: And [William Francis] Gibbs. Hobbs: I had a chance to sit in meetings with him probably half a […]
Oral History
Colonel Franklin Matthias’s Interview – Part 1 (1965)
December 7, 2015
Stephane Groueff: Hello. Colonel Matthias, if you can tell me the story of how the plutonium was shipped. Colonel Franklin Matthias: Is this good enough. Groueff: Yeah, it is good enough. The plutonium was shipped from Hanford to—? Matthias: To Los Alamos. Groueff: To Los Alamos. Matthias: We spent a lot of time trying to […]