Paul's reference to nuclear energy prompts me to speak up.  The nuclear
power industry, created in this country, has suffered from a form of
mass hysteria.  People have a hard time remaining rational about
anything that cannot be sensed yet can kill.  Until recently, I had
thought of breeder reactors as something from the cold war that "made
more fuel than it used".  This is a dream come true, unless you think of
that fuel as the ultimate toxin.



Possible conversation with an environmental advocate:



 "Nuclear energy would go a long way to eliminate climate deterioration
and dangerous flows in wealth".



Advocate, "Yes, but look at the deadly mess they leave behind."



 "That's another reason to start building breeder reactors.  They are
the most efficient kind and can use unwanted waste as fuel.  With
routine reprocessing they consume nearly all of what they are fed.  They
do not add to waste as much as they reduce it—you can even feed them
decommissioned bombs."



Advocate, "I didn't know that."



"Few people do.  The money and options are currently with the oil
industry.  Don't look for Exxon informational ads for nuclear any time
soon; their CEO would get fired. I've see some change lately, but
political advisors would rather have their candidates talking about evil
itself than the dreaded nuclear.  Truth is, if you're really concerned
about nuclear waste, you could think of new reactors as clean-up
machines.  It's the only known way to eliminate nuclear waste.  Even if
we could afford to shoot it into space, a single mistake could have
awful fall out."



Advocate, "Are they safe; what about a reactor accident?"



"The only serious accident involving American design was Three-Mile
Island.  Just about everything that could go wrong did, but the results
were effectively contained.  Learning from that, all

US plants were updated.  We may have stopped building new plants, but
the old ones have continued to run.  Heard about any accidents?"



"It would be great if we could all make our own energy, like Gandhi
spinning cotton, but we'd probably have to sprawl across the land with
our panels and windmills to do it.  Better to grow food there or leave
some room for Earth's other inhabitants.  Industrial energy is as
inseparable from cities as sewerage treatment.  As a centralized
utility, it's hard to find a down side to breeder reactors (unless you
are heavily invested in oil futures)."



Yes, a very civilized solution to a host of problems, even if it doesn't
produce surplus rotaries for aircraft.


Grant Johnson