For as long as the world has understood the power density of nuclear energy, there have been people who have focused on the need to restrict knowledge and access to material to people that they “trust”. There are whole cadres of people who are part of the “nuclear non-proliferation community” and some who have built their entire career specializing in the minutiae of the topic. Those people are often lawyers who can talk circles around poor engineering focused people like me. Sometimes they are people who earn physics degrees and then spend most of their careers in what is essentially a political or diplomatic role.
One of the frequent contributors to Atomic Insights, a Canadian who uses the handle of DV8 2XL, has written a thought provoking post on the topic and invited debate. This issue has been terribly important – in a negative way – to Canadian nuclear scientists, engineers and technicians for more than 35 years, ever since they had to abandon one of the most interesting and potentially lucrative markets for their product. You can go and participate in the discussion at DV8 2XL’s Open letter to the pro-nuclear community.
No, do you want to talk about the boggy man? I do not think that Duke Energy is going to make nuke weapons from spent fuel.
I noticed that the individual with the physics degree was also a nuclear propulsion officer. Maybe the navy needs more english majors… 😉
Seriously, the idea that nuclear proliferation will be halted by getting rid of nuclear power is absurd. Stopping or reducing proliferation is a geopolitical issue. Any country that really wants nuclear weapons will eventually develop them and does not need nuclear power plants to do it (e.g., China had nuclear weapons long before their nuclear power program).
R. – the US also had a weapons program long before we built any power reactors.
Thanks for the link Rod. I note that MIT is feeling the heat over dragging their heels in changing their research reactor over to LEU from HEU as ordered so as to reduce the risk of proliferation. Not doubt the plans of several groups of terrorists will be thwarted when MIT finally gives in. Don’t you feel safer already? </sarcasm>
Interestingly enough the Doomsday Clock will be adjusted this week. Right now, the hands are at 5 minutes to midnight according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientist
Somehow I doubt that there are many atomic scientists left on the board of the Bulletin. If I remember it’s history, the Bulletin was supportive of nuclear power, but strongly for sanity in the nuclear arms race. It was indeed atomic scientists who set the doomsday clock back then. Now, it’s probably isn’t.