Memorial Tributes Volume 22 (2019) / Chapter Skim
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WALTER C. MARSHALL
WALTER C. MARSHALL
Pages 217-232
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From page 218... ...
But he is more likely to be remembered for his distinguished career in public service, which led to a knighthood in 1981 and a life peerage in 1985, and for his forthright public advocacy of nuclear power. Early Years: Pure and Then Applied Scientist Walter Marshall was born March 5, 1932, in Rumney, near Cardiff, the youngest child of three.
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From page 219... ...
His intellectual strengths and forceful personality also made him a prominent participant at international conferences. His principal contributions to the theory of the solid state related to magnetic properties, ranging from the very mathematical (the statistical mechanics of magnetic phase transitions and in particular their critical properties)
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From page 220... ...
Diversification and Industrial Research The success and international reputation of Harwell's Theoretical Physics Division under Marshall's leadership confirmed his ability to lead scientific programs and to motivate others. This led to a significant switch in his career, from pure science to the administration of applied science and technology, with his promotion to deputy director of AERE Harwell in 1966 and to director in 1968.
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From page 221... ...
But the Ministry of Technology could provide funds only for research aimed at industrial development and was not convinced that industrial applications of neutron beam research would arise for many years. Marshall was undoubtedly disappointed but he accepted the general position that a laboratory spending much public money had to be seen as contributing to the national welfare at a time when the UK economy was perceived to be falling behind that of other industrialized nations.
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From page 222... ...
Marshall saw that the most pressing need was to establish good communications with a large number of potential industrial customers, and he put this responsibility on the project leaders themselves, insisting that the ultimate criterion of success would be financial. This forced Harwell scientists to acquire firsthand knowledge of industry and liberated unsuspected entrepreneurial talents in many of them.
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From page 223... ...
He was convinced that "the incredibly complex technical problems associated with fusion are capable of solution on a reasonable timescale," but remained doubtful that fusion reactors would be economical.1 In 1974 he was appointed chief scientist at the newly established UK Department of Energy on a parttime basis. He chaired the Advisory Committee on the Energy Industries and the new Offshore Energy Technology Board, and organized a series of exercises designed to rank energy technologies against scenarios of supply projections and fuel mix.
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From page 224... ...
He considered a growing nuclear component with a strong industrial base essential for a stable UK energy policy. He got involved in the debate about thermal reactor choice -- whether the next round of civil stations should be pressurized water reactors (PWRs)
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From page 225... ...
Most significantly, official opinion in the United States turned against reprocessing nuclear fuel and even against the worldwide growth of nuclear power. President Jimmy Carter postponed indefinitely the reprocessing of civilian spent fuel in 1977 and deferred the development of fast reactors.
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From page 226... ...
Marshall was thanked for his contribution by the UK Department of Energy. Years of Technical Management Marshall's life changed dramatically when, in 1983, energy secretary Nigel Lawson summoned him: "The prime minister and I have decided that in the national interest you should be the next chairman of the CEGB [Central Electricity Generating Board]
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From page 227... ...
Finally, the Americans were convinced that Britain was serious about the PWR. In 1985 Marshall was selected by the American Nuclear Society and Nuclear Energy Institute to receive their Henry DeWolf Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award, recognizing outstanding and statesmanlike contributions to nuclear energy activities.
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From page 228... ...
Marshall's consummate skill at putting across complex technical matters in simple terms, and often with wit and humor, was greatly appreciated at all levels, from the schoolchildren who received his first garden lecture to the prime minister. In 1981, as UKAEA chair (before he joined the CEGB)
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From page 229... ...
The second decision was to abandon the PWR program, in light of the financial criteria by which the City of London was weighing electricity investment. Sizewell B, the lead PWR, 2½ years under construction, was to be completed but not replicated to replace Magnox reactors.
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From page 230... ...
Bill Lee, president of the US electricity company Duke Power, proposed that Marshall become executive chair of a new international nuclear organization, the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) , that the two of them had helped to found in the aftermath of Chernobyl.
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From page 231... ...
It has also named an eddy current flaw detector the Marshall Probe. Concluding Observations Walter Marshall was a person of considerable and unforgettable presence, a polymath, and much more.
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From page 232... ...
, Sir Christopher Harding, Sir John Hill (FRS) , Sir Peter Hirsch (FRS)
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