The Gibson Island Atomic Lighthouse and Introduction to Merson Booth

In the years following the splitting of the atoms over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists, government leaders and business men described a future where atoms would be split, at a slower pace, for fun and profit. 

Atomic Studebakers would whisk commuters to cities where the electricity was too cheap to meter. Flying cars, moving side walks, elevators to space, all powered by nuclear energy were the promise. While we are still waiting for our atomic powered flying cars, Gibson Island did manage to get the only Atomic Lighthouse in North America. 

"It's easy to grin, when your ship comes in,
and you've got the stock market beat..."

Members of the Gibson Island Yacht Squadron have no doubt appreciated the sight of the Lighthouse (officially the Baltimore Harbor Light) after a long sail from Newport or Bermuda, since the Gibson Island Yacht Club was created in the 1920s. The children and grand children of the original Club founders, such as the Eugene DuPonts, the Gifford Pinchots, and the Sifford Pearres (a relative of General Charles "Pearre" Cabell, and Dallas Mayor Earle Cabell)  probably radiated with pride when a nuclear light was installed in 1964, before being replaced a year later with conventional power.

We can only guess as to why the Gibson Island approaches were chosen to test the first and only nuclear powered lighthouse. Perhaps Gibson Island resident Merson Booth thought it was a good idea and was in the position to make it happen.

Merson Booth passed away in 2012 at the age of 88. He spent his entire career in the Nuclear industry. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1946, Merson was assigned to work on the US Nuclear Weapons program in Los Alamos, NM.

In the 1950s, Admiral Hyman S. Rickover recruited Merson Booth "to participate in the early development of the Navy's first nuclear-powered vessels" according to his Washington Post Obituary.

In 1958, Merson resigned from the Navy and joined the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). He retired in 1972 as chief of systems at the age of 48. (The WAPO obituary does not make it clear if Merson just retired from the AEC and went to work somewhere else or retired permanently.)

Merson Booth Obituary - 12/2/2012 (Part 1)

Merson Booth Obituary - 12/2/2012 (Part 2)

How do you sneak 300 lbs. of Highly Enriched Uranium out the back door

We have another series of posts in progress where we present facts, opine and speculate on an incident called The Apollo Affair. The Wikidpedia summary is below.

The Apollo Affair was a 1965 incident in which a US company, Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC), in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Apollo and Parks Township, Pennsylvania was investigated for losing 200–600 pounds (91–272 kg) of highly enriched uranium, with suspicions that it had gone to Israel's nuclear weapons program. Full Wikipedia Article

Our posts are more focused on the possible financial mechanisms that could be used to launder the large sums of money that must have changed hands in order to move HEU from Pittsburgh to Israel. The Posts (so far) are here:

The Apollo Affair, Missing Uranium and Katy Perry (Part 1)
The Apollo Affair, Missing Uranium and Katy Perry (Part 2)
The Apollo Affair, Missing Uranium and Katy Perry (Part 3)
The Apollo Affair, Missing Uranium and Katy Perry (Part 4)

Our broader thesis, with respect to the Apollo Affair is that Zalman Shapiro, the President of NUMEC is not at the "tippy-top" of the conspiracy pyramid and that he must have had help from government agencies, and/or the Navy, and/or other Uranium industry companies to be able to pull off the caper. In short, the government agencies and other entities that were responsible for keeping tabs on weapons grade uranium had to have been persuaded to look the other way.

The AEC, where Merson Booth worked, was the primary agency that was mandated to keep track of all sorts of nuclear material, including the HEU at Apollo. They were also the primary agency in charge of investigating the loss of the HEU.

The "persuaders" would naturally be wealthy and powerful, so when we discovered that Merson Booth was a member of the Gibson Island Club, we figured we had a good lead.

Manhattans at the Gibson Island Club

Your finer and more exclusive Eastern Establishment clubs will usually have a "signature" cocktail that you must have at least one of before switching to your preferred cocktail. The Gibson Island Club probably has one. We don't know what it is, but for narrative purposes, we'll say its a "Manhattan" as in "Manhattan Project Cocktail."

How exactly Merson got involved with the Gibson Island Gang, we have no idea. Nevertheless, he would have been useful in the illicit weapons trade business the gang started back in World War 1. Maybe over Manhattan's, Merson mentioned he worked with Zalman Shapiro under Admiral Rickover's nuclear boat project.

That Merson worked for the AEC is also more than a curiosity and deserves a deeper dive in to the archives. In the meantime, Merson's involvement in a "Radiation Incident" is also worth a closer look.

• Radiation Incident, Westinghouse Testing Reactor, Waltz Mills, PA - April 18, 1960
• Investigation of Radiation Incident, May 27, 1960

The Radiation Incident

Merson Booth was a member of the AEC committee that investigated the radiation incident at Waltz Mills. We are still going through the documents that are linked above. In the meantime, our cynicism prevents us from dismissing the proximity of Waltz Mills, PA from Apollo PA, where the AEC would discover in 1965, that 300 lbs. of HEU was missing, and it was eventually discovered that the HEU ended up in the hands of the Israelis. 

Apollo PA to Waltz Mills PA, 25 miles as the crow flies. 40 Minute Drive

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