History: Sidney Siegel, 89, developer of nuclear power's peaceful use

["Michael P. Grissom" <mpg1@coastside.net>]

radsafe'ers,



The following item was in the March 23, 2001 issue

of the San Jose Mercury News:



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            Sidney Siegel, 89,



       developer of nuclear power's

               peaceful use



LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sidney Siegel, a pioneering

developer of nuclear power for peaceful uses who

recently said the California energy crisis was

preventable, has died. He was 89.



Mr. Siegel died of cancer March 16[, 2001] at his

Pacific Palisades home, his son-in-law Alan Maltun

said.



Just before his death, Mr. Siegel described the

state's energy crisis as "deplorable and utterly

avoidable," Maltun said.



A charter member of the American Nuclear Society,

Mr. Siegel frequently wrote and lectured about the

advantages of producing electricity with nuclear

energy. Nuclear power was cleaner, cheaper and

safer than coal, he said.



Mr. Siegel worked from 1950 to 1972 as vice president

and technical director of Los Angeles-based Atomics

International, a division of the former North

American Aviation Inc. He worked on nuclear energy

to power communications satellites and other space

vehicles.



In 1957, Mr. Siegel helped organize the American

Nuclear Society to promote research and engineering

in nuclear technology. From 1972 to 1975, he was

associate director for energy and the environment

at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.



Born in New York City, Mr. Siegel earned his

bachelor's and doctoral degrees in physics at

Columbia University. He joined Westinghouse

Electric Co. in 1938, doing early research on the

effect of radiation on solids.



He helped develop torpedo triggering devices and

airborne radar systems during World War II and

later went to Oak Ridge to work on nuclear reactor

development.



Mr. Siegel held five patents on solid state

instruments and nuclear power devices.

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