Environment & Energy

Nukes are better than coal, for sure. They may or may not be better than a combination of wind, hydro and solar. Their big advantage is their enormous capacity, almost limitless. That's a problem because it encourages the idea than we can live to excess without energy worries. We can throw caution to the winds, forget about efficiency, breed like mice, etc. Eight billion people now, then 16 billion, then 32 billion... No problem because we can build limitless nukes and address all problems with electrical power. Nuclear power has been sold to us this way in years past. And it's being sold the same way now, with assurances that technology will ensure us against operator error, will anticipate every contingency, will figure out how to process nuclear waste to produce more reactor fuel. Best of all, total commitment will enable to tame fusion, the power of the sun right here on our own planet. We allowed ourselves to be lulled by similar assurances before and ended up with some faulty designs, careless operation, shortcuts of various sorts, and we panicked when we saw it coming off the rails. The whole cycle is about to repeat itself. I'm not too worried. We'll get rid of coal power. We'll have plenty of reliable electrical power. We'll live like kings for a while, until we encounter the problems we failed to anticipate in our fog of Pollyanna enthusiasm. Oh, well. Full speed ahead. Damn the torpedoes.