Ok, you touched a very sore subject. I spent the first half of my
working career (18+ years) as an Engineer and Engineering Manager for
General Electric in the Nuclear Energy Division. In addition to
developing facilities and procedures for the production of
radiopharmacetuticals, I was responsible for R&D testing of Nuclear
Power Reactor Fuel.
Most of you have no idea how much we collectively lost in President
Carters decision to terminate the US Nuclear Recycling Program. National
(US) self-sufficiency of electrical energy production was a real
possibility in pre-Carter days. The total engineering and intellectual
process was terminated in one simple political act. In case your
wondering, this would have substantially reduced the cost of electrial
generation. Ever hear of a Breeder Reactor.
The accident at Three Mile Island essentially sealed the fate of our
energy production future even though <underline>no one</underline> was
injured or endangered except at a psycological level. The scare mongers
had their day, in fact, they've had almost two decades to damage and
distroy the US economy.
I left the Nuclear Industry a couple of years after TMI, cause I didn't
have the personal strength to keep up the fight for an industry that
didn't have the political clout to hold its own in the political arena.
Science and Knowledge is only powerful in an environment where fear of
the unknown is held in check by leaders with forsight and balls, and in
case your looking, their kind are still not very common today.
Bob Palmer and I came very close to working together for General Atomics
without ever knowing it until now.
Just an ex nuke, Tom
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