The article contains Young’s surviving eyewitness account of the much-memed ‘demon core’[0] incident involving Louis Slotin.<p>Young expresses anger at the pressure put on Slotin to enact the experiment so dangerously in person.<p>“ Hospitalized for observation, Young was released, but forever after blamed Slotin’s death on Groves’ insistence on obtaining test results before proper equipment was available. “There was no need to kill Louis Slotin to show that making critical mass measures should be made by remote control,” he wrote in 1975, still angry.”<p>As the demon-core incident is often attributed to Slotin showing off and his careless youthful bravado, Young’s account is valuable as is testifies that pressure for results from the head of the project Gen. Leslie Groves was the cause that the experiment was not performed remotely.<p>Young further testified that Slotin’s quick reactions saved him and others from a fatal dose.<p>“ Slotin immediately knocked the two hemispheres of radioactive material apart with his hand, probably saving the other technicians and scientists in the room—including Young—from immediate death.
“<p>So Slotin was not a fool but under deadline pressure for results and his actions saved others.<p>Young is a fascinating chap, no formal science education but worked his way up to scientist and made the world’s first working breeder reactor in his spare time.<p>[0] “ The meme-ification of the “Demon Core””<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42200699">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42200699</a>