Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. â€"Marie Curie
This is the banner quote in the excellent article entitled "Green to the core? How I tried to stop worrying and love nuclear power", by Judith Lewis in this week's LA Weekly. In view of the issues I mentioned in my article about energy a while ago, this is very interesting reading, since it seems that there may be a huge reinvestment in nuclear energy in our near future. In case you don't know (and most people don't), here in the USA there is nuclear energy in our present in a big way. 20% of the electricity we use is generated in this manner. Pretty much all the stations generating this energy are rather old, and with the growing realization (or at least suspicion) that we should not continue to distort the environment by burning fossil fuels (in fact, it looks like we must stop urgently), the political (and other) will is beginning to change, and since nobody really wants to try something truly radical (such as a massive investment in research into solar power, as Nathan Lewis argues - convincingly, in my opnion - is the only sensible long term option), the nuclear issue is on the table again. You have to read the article. It is very well written and quite satisfyingly long, as such an issue deserves. One excellent aspect of the article is the fact that it takes a little time here and there to talk about the terminology, and even some of the physics! This is great, since, as the article reports:
He [Golden, one of the interviewees] accuses the nuclear industry of "falling down on the job" by keeping so many secrets about its world, and holds that if the American public, like the more nuclear-friendly French, knew all the facts â€" what happens when atoms split, how unstable nuclides decay, how uranium is enriched and waste is transported â€" nuclear energy might be more popular with the American public. "Most Americans think they know about radiation because of Chernobyl, science fiction or the three-eyed fish in The Simpsons," he says. "So as a country, we are phobic about radiation."
and so Judith Lewis, in the early parts of the article, does a good job every now and again of stopping and talking a little about the terminology and the science in a very accessible way. I'm not going to do any more extracts since it is a complicated matter. There's political, engineering, science, sociological, safety, financial, and other issues all tangled up. No clear good-vs-bad division. So please go and read it when you have time. Come back and tell us what you think, if you'd like to. I cannot over-emphasize how important I think it is to take the time out and read this article or an article like it. This is so important. All of our futures, and those of our decendants, are going to collide with this issue. Get yourself ready for the jolt. -cvj
