Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

J. Samuel (“Sam”) Walker is the former historian of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the author of Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs against Japan. He is also the author of five books on the history of regulating nuclear power, including Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective and The Road to Yucca Mountain: The Development of Radioactive Waste Policy in the United States.

Related Profiles

Henry DeWolf Smyth

Washington, DC

Henry DeWolf Smyth (1898-1986) was an American physicist, diplomat, and bureaucrat. During World War II, Smyth was a member of the National Defense Research Committee’s Uranium Section.

Robert Lamphere

Washington, DC

Robert Lamphere (1918-2002) supervised many investigations of Soviet spies during the Cold War. He served as the FBI’s liaison to the top-secret Venona Project, which worked to break Soviet codes and revealed the extent of Soviet espionage in the United States.

Severn A. Jackson

Washington, DC

Severn A. Jackson served in the 1st Ordnance Squadron.

Henry Stimson

Washington, DC

As Secretary of War under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Henry L. Stimson (1867-1950) oversaw the entire Manhattan Project, and was responsible for appointing key project leaders and authorizing project construction sites across the US.