Can we fix nuclear energy

Dr. Weinberg discusses some of the history of various aspects of the nuclear industry in light of the accident at Three Mile Island. The siting of commercial nuclear power plants near population centers is a result of opening up nuclear operations at the private sector. Early reactors established as a part of the Manhattan Project were all remote from unknowledgeable populations. When the utilities began to construct nuclear plants, their siting tended to conform to the practices already established for generation plants. With the nearness of nuclear power plants to people, and with media coverage of accidents so widespread, the public perception of risk associated with nuclear energy deserves attention. The primary issue concerning nuclear power plants is, according to Dr. Weinberg, the 15 billion curies in an operating reactor and the possibility of their release. He identifies six characteristics necessary for an acceptable nuclear energy system: technical fixes; physical isolation; separation of generation and distribution; professionalization of the nuclear cadre; heightened security; and, perhaps most difficult, public education about the hazards of radiation. The major alternatives to fission - geothermal, fusion, fossil, and the various forms of solar energy - are discussed briefly