Reactor Man

Atomic energy has been produced in sizable quantities ever since 1942, but so far, not a single kilowatt has been put to practical, peacetime use. The Atomic Energy Commission, smarting from criticism, decided last summer to set up a special "Reactor Development Division" to start the reactors reacting.

Next week, Dr. Lawrence Hafstad, 44, the division's first chief, will begin his enormous task of pacifying the atom. Born in Minneapolis of Norwegian parents, he worked his way through the University of Minnesota as a telephone maintenance man. In April 1939, young Dr. Hafstad got in on the ground floor of nuclear energy by publishing, with associates, the first paper on "delayed neutrons." Delayed neutrons make an atomic pile possible: they allow time for adjusting its speed of reaction.

Hafstad's job in the AEC will require at least as much tact as physics. He will have to get along with atom-minded private companies, such as General Electric and Westinghouse, and with the Navy and Air Force, which are also atom-minded. "The intent," he says, "is to increase the tempo and get more aggressive and effective work going on."

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