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92Wednesday,September!T,2OOg_ DAILYREPUBLIC
What'swrongwith nuclearpowerP
is provided by nuclear
he 1939New York
plants.Nuclearpoweris a
World'sFair wasa
cost-effective,long-lasting
built on an ashheap.
and safeform of almostreAttended by more
newableenergy.All103
than 40 million people,it
U.S.reactorsare up and
meantto lift a nation from
running 90 percent of the
the sootydepthsof the Depression.It's brochure
time and make money.
SinceHiroshima, more
read,"Here are the . . .
ideas. . .( and) . . . the tools
RVan than200nuclearpower
l(eVin
. . . (for). . . the World of Tothan 50 countries,1.50portsand
morrow." A 5,000-yeartime capsule enshrineda kewpie doll, writ- 1"30million miles without incident
while keepingus all safe.Thanks,
ings of Einsteinand a dollar in
U.S.NaW.
change.
The world was on the precipice
of a war that would emblazonthe
ememberE=MC2 in high
awesomepowerof brokenuranischool?Energy and matter
um atomsinto our consciousness.
are different forms of the
Winning the atomic kewpie doll
samething. Bits of matter,
assuredchangeback on energy
like abundanturanium and thoridollars.
In March 1979,the apocryphal um, contain enormousamountsof
nuclear accidentfilm, "The China energy.An averageL,000
megawattcoal plant burns 20 tons
Syndrome,"radiatedominous
warnings of sinister governmental of coal for 20 minutesof electricity, belching60 tonsof CO2.Fuel
conspiracies.Decadeslater, this
nuclear renation that changedthe world for- for a 1.,000-megawatt
ever by unchainingatomic bonds, actor is reloadedsafelyby gloved
handsoff a flatbedtrucks every
remains awashin radioactive
six years feedinga plant that ocmythology more harmful than the
cupiesonly one-thirdan acre.
puff vented March, L979at the
More than 4,000intermittently
Three Mile Island nuclearplant.
working wind turbines occupying
Personnelerror, designdefimorethan 200squaremiles procienciesand componentfailures
duceequivalentenerg;r.Nuclear
led to lessradioactivity than a
chestX-ray being intentionally re- power;no exhaust,no sasquatchleased.Thosetwo events,coupled sizedcarbon footprint, no acid
rain or billions in dollars from diswith a L977presidential decision
easesand pollution.
and the predictable1.986CherTheL977decisionto force nunobyl disasterdue to unforgivably
clear
wastestoragerather than reshoddyconstruction,enchained
cycle fuel was born of fear regardAmerican atomsagain.
ing evil useof stolenplutonium
Nuclearpower meanscongeneratedby reactors.Wrong
trolled nuclear reactionsexploitmove.Diplomacy and force can
ing the massiveheatreleased
prevent countriesor terrorists
when breakingatomicbonds.
from using nuclear materials for
percent
Twenty
of U.S.electricity
destructiveends.Furthermore,
new technologiesmake stolenfuel
useless.
ationswill build what they
cannotbuy. Crucially,modern nuclearbreederreactor
systemsrecycle. They producealmostno nuclear wasteand
if convertedto useabundantthorium, the radioactivehalf-life of
minimal wasteis 30 to 40 years.
Modern nuclear reactorscannot
explodeand meltdownsare not
possible.
Nuclearpower is coststabile.
Fuel is largely recyclable,abundant and boughtyearsin advance.
It costslessthan 2 centsper kilowatt-hour(a quarter of gas-fired
plants).
An informed fear of oppression
from tyrannical regimesexploiting a crucible of energyled Dr.
Leo Szilardto entreat friend and
fellow genius,Einstein, to approach PresidentRooseveltin
1939.Our nationhasseduceditself into near fiefdom to land
baronsparsing out the earth's
black blood-- petroleum.Our ignoranceand irrational fear of nuclear energycompoundsour
servitude.
Leadersmust throw fears on
the ashheapand tactically employ
hard won kewpie dolls of atomic
powerin a multiprongedassault
Do sonow
on energydependence.
and we will not needto wait five
thousandyears to get changeback
from our energy dollar.
Dr.Kevin Ryanis a retiredcolonel,
physician,musicianand author
who livesinFairfield.Reochhim
at ryan_k@comcast.net.