April 2018

Waldemar Hendrickson worked as a nuclear fuel specialist at the Idaho National Laboratory at the time of the Vietnam War. He became involved in a top-secret mission with a team of U.S. scientists to remove fuel from a nuclear reactor before North Vietnamese forces could get to it. The secret operation was in the city of Da Lat, about 125 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon in 1975) where American scientists installed a research reactor in 1960s. It was called the TRIGA Mark II. It was a symbol of US support for South Vietnam during the Cold War. Despite the high risks, Hendrickson appreciated the importance of getting the fuel out and took the personal risk for the government and his country.  Many details of the mission preparation and the reactor recovery operation will be presented at the meeting.