Social Institutions – Nuclear Energy
We nuclear people have made a Faustian bargain with society. On the onhand, we offer – in the catalytic nuclear burner – an inexhaustible source ofenergy. Even in short range, when we use ordinary reactors, we offer energythat is cheaper than energy from fossil fuel. Moreover, this source of energy,when properly handled, ist almost nonpolluting. Whereas fossil fuel burnersmost emit oxides of carbon and nitrogen, and probably will always emit somesulfur dioxide, there is no intrinsic reason why nuclear systems must emit any pollutant – except heat and traces of radioactivity.
But the price that we demand of society for this magical energy source is both a vigilance and a longevity of social institutions that we are quite
accustomed to. …“
Social Institutions and Nuclear Energy.
Alvin M. Weinberg