CONSCIENCE AND THE ANTINUKE CRUSADE

This is a short “think piece” attacking opponents of nuclear energy. If and when predictions about nuclear waste made here and here become real, and there is a concerted international capacity to prevent weapons proliferation, this author will be right. Meanwhile, the best bets are wind, sun, waves, plug-in hybrids and conservation.

Antinuke crusaders don’t care that abundant energy helps the have-nots
Arnold Koch Melrose, May 6, 2007 (Boston Globe)

WHO
The author attacks the 1970s/80s Clamshell/Dukakis Alliance and allied opponents of nuclear energy.
Seabrook Nuclear Power Station
WHAT
Clamshell raised a ruckus against the Seabrook nuclear facility.

WHEN
The highpoint of “Clamshell activity was a 1977 demonstration.

WHERE
Seabrook Nuclear Power Station is in New Hampshire, 40 miles north of Boston and just south of Portsmouth, NH.

WHY
Opposition to nuclear energy has waned because
1. the absence of recent power plant accidents suggest the industry has made the technology safer;
2. the need to fight climate change makes nuclear energy’s capacity to deliver large quantities of dependable energy without greenhouse gas emissions attractive;
3. new technology promises to alleviate the danger of waste.
The author cites success with nuclear energy in France, China and 18 other countries, as well as the 103 US plants’ 28 years without another Three Mile Island.
click to enlarge
QUOTES
“For some who have made it in our society, being antinuke is fashionable and politically correct. The search for energy and the use of energy is bad, while energy conservation is good. Windmills and solar cells are their answer…But for those who are trying to get out of poverty and achieve economic parity, abundant energy at a reasonable cost is a life necessity.”