Not really. It was brought up as a concern, number crunching occurred, and it was seen as incredibly unlikely, borderline impossible outcome. I guess talking about the possibility is interesting in-and-of itself, but there really wasn’t a concern.
“Horgan: I wonder if you could tell me a little bit about the story of Teller’s suggestion that the atomic bomb might ignite the atmosphere around the Earth.
They were worried the first test of a nuclear weapon would ignite the atmosphere and kill all life on earth.
Not really. It was brought up as a concern, number crunching occurred, and it was seen as incredibly unlikely, borderline impossible outcome. I guess talking about the possibility is interesting in-and-of itself, but there really wasn’t a concern.
“Maybe.” “What do you mean maybe?” “Probably not” “fire that shit up”
Worried enough to think twice and crunch the numbers
“Horgan: I wonder if you could tell me a little bit about the story of Teller’s suggestion that the atomic bomb might ignite the atmosphere around the Earth.
Bethe: It is such absolute nonsense [laughter], and the public has been interested in it… And possibly it would be good to kill it once more.” https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/cross-check/bethe-teller-trinity-and-the-end-of-earth/