United States Atomic Energy Commission

Gravitas Ventures to Distribute Documentary Downwind About Fallout From Nuclear Testing in United States

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 10, 2023

The latter was the site for the testing of 928 large-scale nuclear weapons from 1951 to 1992.

Key Points: 
  • The latter was the site for the testing of 928 large-scale nuclear weapons from 1951 to 1992.
  • The film is executive produced by actor/activist Matthew Modine, who stars in this summer’s long-awaited Oppenheimer from director Christopher Nolan.
  • “Southern Utah was deeply affected by the nearly 1,000 nuclear and atomic bombs detonated in the Nevada desert.
  • In 1987, my brother Maury was arrested in Mercury, Nevada – alongside our documentary’s narrator Martin Sheen -- protesting the continued testing of nuclear bombs.

From Oppenheimer to Milton Friedman: how the Cold War battle of economic ideas shaped our world

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Is Oppenheimer a movie for our time, reminding us of the tensions, dangers and conflicts of the old Cold War while a new one threatens to break out?

Key Points: 
  • Is Oppenheimer a movie for our time, reminding us of the tensions, dangers and conflicts of the old Cold War while a new one threatens to break out?
  • But the Cold War did not just rest on the threat of the bomb.
  • Von Neumann also developed the computer architecture on the EDVAC machine that allowed simulations of these nuclear and economic “games”.

Spies and ideologies

    • He survived the siege of Leningrad and invented linear programming to help Soviet factories build wartime planes more efficiently.
    • But he found himself assigned to the ENORMOZ project, the desperate Soviet race to build their own atomic bomb.
    • But it failed when faced with the more sophisticated civilian demands later in the Cold War.

Academic warfare

    • But some of the most brutal arguments took place in the hallowed halls of academia.
    • Fascinated by the possibility of computers helping direct an economy, Oscar Lange wrote just before his death:
      So what’s the trouble?
    • Let us put the simultaneous equations on an electronic computer and we shall obtain the solution in less than a second.

Computers and coups

    • In Santiago he built a futuristic control centre: a ring of armchairs with controls, monitors and a software system named Cybersyn.
    • Allende had nationalised 500 businesses and he linked them up to the control centre by fax machine (ironically, using the wired network of the CIA-influenced ITT company).
    • Each day, the controllers would fax orders to the factories and receive information on shortages and gluts.
    • Despite all the geopolitical tensions, economists today can at least argue in a far less hostile environment.

'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds': who was atom bomb pioneer Robert Oppenheimer?

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Robert Oppenheimer is often placed next to Albert Einstein as the 20th century’s most famous physicist. He will forever be the “father of the atomic bomb” after the first nuclear weapon was successfully tested on July 16, 1945 in the New Mexican desert. The event brought to his mind words from a Hindu scripture: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”.Who was Robert Oppenheimer?Two years later, he completed his PhD in physics at one of the world’s leading institutions for theoretical physics, the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Key Points: 


Robert Oppenheimer is often placed next to Albert Einstein as the 20th century’s most famous physicist. He will forever be the “father of the atomic bomb” after the first nuclear weapon was successfully tested on July 16, 1945 in the New Mexican desert. The event brought to his mind words from a Hindu scripture: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”.

Who was Robert Oppenheimer?

    • Two years later, he completed his PhD in physics at one of the world’s leading institutions for theoretical physics, the University of Göttingen, Germany.
    • Throughout his life, Oppenheimer would be judged either as an aloof prodigy or an anxious narcissist.
    • Before the outbreak of the second world war, Oppenheimer worked at the University of California, Berkeley, and the California Institute of Technology.
    • His partner, Kitty Puening, was a left-leaning radical and their social circle included Communist Party members and activists.

The second world war

    • His ideas about chain reaction in an atomic bomb gained recognition among the US defence community.
    • His ability to master the large-scale workforce and channel their energy towards the needs of the project earned him respect.
    • He proved to be more than just an administrator by being involved in the interdisciplinary team across theoretical and experimental stages of the weapons development.

The nuclear test

    • On July 16, 1945 the nuclear test, code named Trinity, took place.
    • Shortly after the atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Oppenheimer confronted the US secretary of war, Henry Stimson, demanding that nuclear weapons were banned.
    • Truman’s rebuttal did not prevent Oppenheimer from advocating for the establishment of controls on the nuclear arms race.

Arms control

    • But his chief concern was the unavoidable arms race.
    • He advocated for the establishment of an international body that would control the development of nuclear energy and its usage.
    • Oppenheimer urged strongly for international arms control.
    • The investigation that followed in 1954 exposed Oppenheimer’s past communist ties and culminated in his security clearance being revoked.

McCarthyism and academic freedom

    • In the era of Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunts, his fellow scientists considered Oppenheimer as a martyr of the cause of academic freedom.
    • He toured internationally with talks about the role of academic freedom unrestrained by political considerations.

General Atomics and Tokamak Energy Announce Collaboration Regarding High Temperature Superconducting Magnet Technologies

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 30, 2023

The collaboration would leverage GA’s world-leading capabilities for manufacturing large-scale magnet systems and Tokamak Energy’s pioneering expertise in HTS magnet technologies.

Key Points: 
  • The collaboration would leverage GA’s world-leading capabilities for manufacturing large-scale magnet systems and Tokamak Energy’s pioneering expertise in HTS magnet technologies.
  • Tokamak Energy is a leader in HTS magnet modelling, design and prototyping and GA has expertise in developing and fabricating large-scale superconducting magnets for fusion applications.” said Anantha Krishnan, Senior Vice President at General Atomics.
  • Warrick Matthews, Managing Director at Tokamak Energy, said: “GA has significant experience, knowledge and facilities to produce large superconducting magnets at scale.
  • Tokamak Energy has been a pioneer in recognizing the opportunity to apply and develop HTS magnet technology for fusion energy.

The New Chilean National Lithium Policy

Retrieved on: 
Monday, April 24, 2023

On the evening of 20 April 2023, Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced the long awaited National Lithium Policy (“NLP” or the “Policy”).

Key Points: 
  • On the evening of 20 April 2023, Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced the long awaited National Lithium Policy (“NLP” or the “Policy”).
  • Lithium Power International’s Director and MSB’s Chairman, Russell Barwick, commented:
    “We are pleased that the National Lithium Policy, as presented last week in Santiago, is very much along the lines of what was discussed and expected in our various discussions with Chilean authorities.
  • Rather than focus on what the legislation means for the future of the Chilean lithium industry, our focus is on what it means for our Maricunga lithium project and how it will transform the Chilean lithium industry through its development.
  • At LPI, we welcome President Boric’s National Lithium Strategy and its objective to positively transform the Chilean lithium industry.

Letter of intent for H2B2 Electrolysis Technologies, a Leading Developer and Operator of Green Hydrogen Production Systems for Clean Energy Generation, to Go Public on the NASDAQ via a Business Combination with RMG Acquisition Corporation III

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 4, 2023

H2B2 Electrolysis Technologies (“H2B2” or the “Company”), a leading developer and operator of green hydrogen production systems for clean energy generation, and RMG Acquisition Corporation III (Nasdaq: RMGC) (“RMG III”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, announced today that they have entered into a letter of intent (“LOI") for a potential business combination.

Key Points: 
  • H2B2 Electrolysis Technologies (“H2B2” or the “Company”), a leading developer and operator of green hydrogen production systems for clean energy generation, and RMG Acquisition Corporation III (Nasdaq: RMGC) (“RMG III”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, announced today that they have entered into a letter of intent (“LOI") for a potential business combination.
  • RMG III and H2B2 expect to announce additional details regarding the business combination when a definitive agreement is executed, which is expected before the end of the first quarter 2023.
  • Since its founding in 2016, H2B2 has become a key player in the green hydrogen energy sector.
  • In 2019, the California Energy Commission awarded H2B2 a grant for the development of a green hydrogen production facility, Sohycal plant, in Fresno, California.