Haste with Waste

Excerpts from a presentation by Dr. Price to the Institute of Nuclear Material Management Seminar IX, Washington, D.C.

The old adage is "Haste makes waste." And now in the United States, the future of nuclear energy is in the waste, because the early adventurers of nuclear energy -- in their haste to harness the atom -- have made nuclear waste without fully considering its importance.

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I find it very interesting that the name of the show that gives the answer before the question is -- "Jeopardy." Is nuclear waste disposal becoming a program in jeopardy? Is the altar of the immediate, the cornerstone of a "House of Expediency?"

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... power was [first] used modestly to provide a light bulb in the barn to prevent fumbling in the dark; to provide the hall light in the house to minimize stumbling in the night on the way to the bathroom ... that Spartan early era changed rapidly so that by the mid twentieth century scientists were confronted with the limitation of fossil fuels and with the realization that increasing power demands required this country look for additional sources of power. At that same time, some had just seen what the eye cannot see and had just handled what the hand cannot feel. They had manipulated the tumblers of the nucleus and had unlocked the brute energy of matter. And they saw in the prevailing appetite for electrical power a peacetime use of the atom.

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Now we approach ... a new millennium with complete confidence in the marvelous manifestations of a flip of a switch. But few bows are being taken. The applause is scattered. The fanfare is faint, and hopes of adoration are gladly exchanged by some for just a little respect. What some think wondrous; others think not so wonderful. What some think awesome; other think awful ... In the face of some achievement, there is a loss of confidence, and many concerns.