Ronald Richter
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Ronald Richter (1909-1991) was an Austrian, later Argentinian, scientist who became famous in connection with the Huemul Project and the National Atomic Energy Commission. This was intended to generate energy from nuclear fusion in the 1950s in Argentina, during the regime of Juan Perón. Richter's project would deliver — according to Perón's 1951 announcements — cheap energy in containers of two sizes: half liter and one liter, not unlike the milk bottles then in use.
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[edit] Nationality
Of German origin, Richter was born in Falkenau an der Eger during the Austrian rule of the Czech Sudetenland (now the Czech Republic). In Czech, the locality was known until 1948 as Falknov nad Ohří; it was then renamed Sokolov.
Different sources attribute to Richter either Austrian or German nationality. Eventually he was naturalized Argentine. This last nationality was acquired when President Juan Perón overrode Argentine law (Gambini, 1999, v.1, p.397).
[edit] Studies
Richter attended the German University of Prague. Different sources provide variant narratives about his studies as a doctoral candidate.
According to Gambini (1999, v.1, p.396), Richter was awarded a doctorate in natural sciences in 1955. [However, another source claims that he was not awarded a doctoral degree because he had misinterpreted his research results. He had concluded that he had discovered delta rays being emitted by the earth, but in fact he had been detecting X-rays scattered by the ground.
According to his recollection, Mayo (2004) had personally heard Richard Gans say:
Richter proposed a thesis, at the German University of Prague, to detect "delta rays" emitted from Earth. Professor Heinrich Rausch von Traubenberg did not agree with the project. The "young genius" went to work somewhere else and graduated in a different field.
Kurt Sitte's recollections of Richter's research under Prof. Furth differed. He recalls (Mariscotti, 1985, p.277-8):
...when I was Prof. Furth's assistent in the Department of Experimental Physics [of Prague University], [Richter] came to interest us in a fantastic project. He had read (not in a scientific journal, of course) about the discovery of a mysterious radiation, the "earth rays", that radiated from the interior of the Earth and caused a huge type of fabulous effects. These were what he wanted to research. He was very excited with the idea, and it was very difficult ot convince him (if we really did) that the "evidence" cited was spurious. His thesis was not published (Mariscotti, 1985, p.208, quoting Alemann, 1955)
[edit] Work
[edit] Europe
During work he did in Germany in the period 1939-1943 he met Kurt Tank, an aeronautical engineer who later emigrated to Argentina, hired by Perón's government under the cover name of Pedro Matthies. [2] Richter's only known jobs of scientific or technological character, between the end of WWII and his arrival in Argentina, were a six-month stint working on explosives and a few commercial contracts (Roederer, 2003; Mariscotti, 1985).
[edit] Argentina
Recommended to Perón by Kurt Tank, Richter moved to Argentina and was received, according to Gambini (1999, v.1, p.396), by the German industrialist August Siebrecht, ex-nazi spy. He took Richter to Cordoba, where Kurt Tank was developing aircraft. Perón had hired Kurt Tank to design and produce airplanes and Tank was interested in Richter's proposal of using nuclear energy to propel the aircraft. When a short time later Richter was introduced to Perón he proposed him the program that eventually became known as the Huemul Project: production of energy by means of controlled nuclear fusion reactions. A complete description is given in the article Huemul Project. Richter continued to address Tank as Prof. Dr. Pedro Matthies in his correspondence about the Huemul Project (Mariscotti, 1985).
After the termination of the Huemul Project in 1952, Richter appears to have spent periods of time abroad. Eventually he returned to Argentina, where he died in 1991. A terse announcement of Richter's death appeared in an obituary published by Microsemanario (1991).
[edit] Portrait
An emergent characterization of Ronald Richter continues to evolve throughout the examination of multiple biográphic sources that describe and/or comment on Richter and his project. Due to Richter's close association with Juan Perón and Eva Perón and the relevance of nuclear physics for the international scene, the sources cover a wide spectrum. They range from works about the Argentine regime of the time to international evaluations of the Huemul Project in the context of the Cold War and its aftermath.
The following are quotations from books and articles published since then by journalists, biographers, physicists, and historians. Their respective sources are fully referenced below:
From Dujovne Ortiz (1996):
This German “scientist” had succeeded in convincing Perón that he was capable of producing atomic energy. Perón had an atomic plant built for him . . . The country lacked cement to build homes, yet tons of mortar were shuttled to Huemul. With his raincoat and his tousled hair, Richter looked like a mad scientist, and he made everyone laugh — except Perón, who for once was very serious. Evita would say, “The General is very naive.” Needless to say, nothing came of this endeavor.
From Roederer (2003):
That fusion energy project, conceived and directed by Austrian physicist and con artist Ronald Richter, was being developed in absolute secrecy on Isla Huemul...some high-level members of Perón's entourage had serious doubts about Richter's sincerity and the soundness of his ideas. The doubters discreetly sought the advice of scientists from advanced countries — a risky move because of Perón's initial blind support of Richter.... Perón startled the world with his announcement that "the Argentine scientist Richter" — who couldn't speak a word of Spanish — had achieved the controlled release of nuclear-fusion energy. Not one real Argentine physicist was participating in the Huemul project, and not one in the entire country believed in the truth of Perón's announcement.
From Winterberg (2003):
Ronald Richter, Genius or Nut?
From Luzuriaga (2005)
This implies that [Richter] acted under his own delusions...
[edit] Richter, The Opera: A Musical Documentary
Richter inspired an opera which contains both passionate and erratic expressions together with his references to the spectacular experiments. It has been performed both in Argentina (Teatro Colón) and in France (Théâtre Paris-Villete). Authored by Mario Lorenzo and Esteban Buch, its title is Richter: Ópera Documental de Cámara.
The plot developes poetically framed between the ever present Patagonian winds of the roaring forties and the recurrent breaking of the waves of the lake on the shores of the island . . . until the peace is shattered by German utterances and acoustic bangs.
- Summary and critique. Casullo, Eduardo. La Aventura de la Isla de la Mula: Richter.
- Spectacles. Richter: Opéra documentaire de Mario Lorenzo.
[edit] References
To facilitate library access to the references, both code numbers, ISBN and LC, are given when available.
- Alemann, Peter (1955). Esto Es, last week of October 1955.
- Confalonieri, Orestes D. (1956). Peron contra Peron, Editorial Antygua, Buenos Aires.
- Dujovne Ortiz, Alicia 1996). Eva Perón. 1st ed.(tr. Fields, Shawn)( New York: St. Martin's Press, 325 p. ISBN 0-312-14599-3. F2849.P37 D8413 1996
- Eloy Martínez, Tomas (1996). Las Memorias del General. Editorial Planeta, Buenos Aires. ISBN 950-742-697-3. See translated excerpt, below.
- Gambini, Hugo (1999). Historia del Peronismo, Editorial Planeta Buenos Aires, 2 vols. ISBN 950-49-0226-X. F2849.G325 1999. See translated excerpt, below.
- Luzuriaga, Javier (2005). Even in Translation, Richter's 'Science' Unimpressive (January 2005). Letter by Luzuriaga, no reply.
- Mariscotti, Mario J. (1985). El secreto atómico de Huemul.. Editorial Planeta, Buenos Aires. ISBN 950-37-0109-0. QC773.3.A7 M37 1985.
- Mayo, Santos (2004). More on the Value of Ronald Richter's Work. (March 2004). Letter by Mayo followed by Winterberg's reply.
- Microsemanario (1991). Microsemanario 2:43, 26 Nov - 2 Dic 1991. Secretaría de Extensión Universitaria de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales - UBA.
- Roederer, Juan G. (2003). Early Cosmic-Ray Research in Argentina (January 2003). Article by Roederer containing a section titled "The Argentine scientist Richter".
- Winterberg, Friedwardt (2004). Ronald Richter, Genius or Nut? (August 2003). Letter by Winterberg followed by Roederer's reply.
[edit] Translated excerpts
↑ * From Gambini (1999, Vol.1, p.398):
"While in a state of delirious enthusiasm [Perón] said [just] anything --recalled Richter-- and ventured to prognosticate that I would obtain for him bottled electric energy. As a consequence of those exaggerations the plan to expand the CADE [main source of electric power for the greater Buenos Aires] was dropped, giving rise to an energy setback."
- From Gambini (1999, Vol.1, p.401):
"[From t]he writer Tomás Eloy Martínez (1996, p.182): ...Perón] was clumsy in announcing the false finding in a resounding manner, assuring that from that moment Argentina would sell nuclear energy for domestic use in bottles of one litre and half a litre. Naturally, this caused what in Argentina has been known [since then as] a 'historical embarrassment.'" NOTE: Eloy Martinez cites the origin of his quotation to be Confalonieri (1956, p.214) who took it from its original source: the newspaper Clarin, Buenos Aires, issue of October 7, 1955.
