Editorial: Reconsidering Nuclear

By Bart King When I read that Dr. James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, sent a letter to Barack Obama asking that-among other things-he renew funding for nuclear research, it got my attention. I have been against the proliferation of nuclear power on the grounds that air and water pollution are bad enough. Radioactive pollution that remains a threat for thousands of years is simply abhorrent. Also, like many other people, I am frightened by nuclear’s unnaturally destructive potential. However, I admit that my knowledge of what are called "fourth generation" nuclear power plants (NPPs) was exceedingly limited. Thus, when Hansen, whom I respect for his early and sustained warnings on climate change (not to mention his stand against the Bush Administration’s censoring of scientists) said a new class of NPPs could burn nuclear waste as fuel, I decided to get more informed. Of course, doing so is no easy task, because when an industry is positioning itself for billions of dollars worth of investments and revenues, it’s easy to see how information might get "massaged" to fit a particular end. And on the other side of the fence there are people like myself, who-despite its […]

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