Concluding remarks

There appeared to be unanimity on the proposition that energy and environmental problems are following a course which threatens to overwhelm all nations and all peoples unless we take corrective actions and soon. There also was unanimity on the thesis that many of the global problems require international cooperation and collaboration on a scale never before experienced and that this is a matter of survival. Nuclear energy, in its most horrible form, not only brought an end to a terrible war but has also served to discourage war between the major powers for more than 40 years, the longest such period in all of modern history, which dates back about 350 years. Nuclear arsenals, obnoxious though they are, have helped buy time for the world to put its political establishment on a path which makes global war less and less probable. This must continue but, in addition, we now need to buy time (50-100 years) to develop environmentally benign energy sources that are affordable and that will alleviate the instabilities imposed by islands of affluence in a sea of despair. This conference reinforces belief that nuclear energy can help mightily to solve that problem. In fact, it appears to be one of very few realistic options available to us. But we will fail in making this option available if we do find a way to increase the literacy of the world's people, and especially their leaders, about environmental matters generally and about the nuclear-energy option in particular. We must find ways to provide factual information with impeccable honesty and high credibility. I am hopeful that the information generated by this conference, widely disseminated, will help to do that and also to foster such conferences in the future