Starr, Chauncey 1912-2007

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born April 14, 1912, in Newark, NJ; died of congestive heart failure, April 17, 2007, in Atherton, CA. Physicist, researcher, college administrator, and author. The founding president of the Electric Power Research Institute, Starr was a renowned figure in the field of nuclear power and was also known for his research on risk management. He was a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned his B.A. in electrical engineering and Ph.D. in physics in 1932 and 1935, respectively. After graduating, he was a researcher at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1941, he began work for the U.S. Department of the Navy's Bureau of Ships. This led to his research in nuclear physics. Starr was on the radiation staff at the University of California from 1942 to 1943, and for the rest of World War II he worked on the Manhattan Project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. His main focus was the very important job of figuring out how to best separate uranium isotopes through the use of electromagnetism; he then worked on developing the water-cooled reactor design that is still used in nuclear power plants today. After the war, Starr joined American Aviation, Inc., in California. Here he worked his way up from chief of special research to general manager of Atomics International and president of his division. In 1966, Starr switched to an academic career at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science for six years. Here he notably created the environmental engineering program; he also wrote the landmark paper on risk analysis, "How Safe Is Safe Enough?" Here he explained how one can analyze the financial and safety risks to calculate how dangerous something is. One fact he discovered was that people were more willing to take risks when they were in control rather than when someone else was. The perfect example of this is the comparison of car driving versus flying in an airplane. Even though statistics show driving is much more dangerous, people prefer it over flying because they are in control of the car. Starr's last major role was as founding president of the Electric Power Research Institute, which is the center of electrical power research in the country. He was still working there full time at the time of his death. Unlike some people who fear nuclear power, Starr insisted throughout his life that it could be a safe and reliable source of energy. He envisioned the United States eventually constructing a SuperGrid of subterranean nuclear power plants interlinked by a tunnel system and superconducting cables. Developing reliable and safe energy is essential for a any successful modern civilization, Starr maintained, and he was confident nuclear energy was a main part of the solution. Awarded the 1990 National Medal of Technology for his scientific contributions, Starr was also named an officer of the French Legion of Honor and recipient of the George E. Pake Prize, among other honors. His published writings include Economic Growth, Employment, and Energy (1977) and Current Issues in Energy (1979).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, April 20, 2007, Section 3, p. 8.

Los Angeles Times, April 19, 2007, p. B7.

Washington Post, April 21, 2007, p. B6.