Excerpts from Chapter 1 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth
(http://simplesolutionsbook1.com/)

Nuclear Energy

The nuclear option could well be the solution to our energy problems. After all, the Sun fuses hydrogen to give us solar energy. Why, then, not us? Then again, there is the specter of nuclear holocaust, the dirty bomb and terrorists. That double-edged sword will continue to torment this alternative.

On February 7, 2006, The Oakland Tribune reported that for the first time in more than 20 years U.S. nuclear weapons scientists began designs for a new hydrogen bomb. On July 2 of that year I realized for the first time how close I lived to thermonuclear annihilation. In the 150th anniversary issue of The Honolulu Advertiser, on page CC-19, was a horrific night photo of Honolulu with a huge fireball in the background.315. This was Teak Redstone, a 3.8x106 million ton hydrogen bomb blast of August 1, 1958, which occurred 48.3 miles above Johnson Island, located 800 miles south of Hawaii. It was reported that animals 300 miles away were blinded, permanently. This was rather puny, as H-Bombs go, for in 1954 we detonated a 13.6 megaton version over the Marshall Islands, and in 1961 the Soviet Union exploded a 50 megaton bomb over Novaya Zemlya Island in northern Russia above the Arctic Circle. These were the days when nuclear experiments were done in secrecy, so no one in Hawaii even knew this was coming. Eleven days later came a second detonation, but this one was announced ahead of time, and became the equivalent of a July 4th fireworks show, with picnics and jockeying for good views. I don’t remember all this, for I was by then on my way to Stanford University for my freshman year.

On July 9, 1962, a mere 1.5 megaton 400 kilometer height burst, code-named Starfish Prime, inspired hotels in Hawaii to advertise the “rainbow bomb,” and hosted roof parties.78 But, wow, streetlights blinked out, telephone service failed, and the strong electromagnetic pulse also crippled seven earth satellites. Much of this was kept classified until quite recently. You think, perhaps, Jong-Il Kim of North Korea now might have a relatively safe target to consider? He probably would not want to take a chance, but he does interact with Middle East terrorists looking for something more spectacular than 9/11. Why not wipe out all satellite capabilities? On the other hand, they don’t have the H-Bomb, just, maybe, the A-Bomb, which cannot perpetrate this kind of damage. But good enough reason to terminate the intentions of North Korea and Iran now before they graduate to the H-Bomb.

By 1962 I was back and working in Naalehu, the southernmost point of the USA. While an airline pilot flying over Diamond Head described the nuclear explosion of the November 2 version to be “an unbelievable rising sunset…, with rainbow etched in a frightening arc…then a lavender-white end to everything,” even this, I don’t remember. Today, notwithstanding the dreadful consequences, I, too, would have been up with a glass of Chardonnay in hand, not to toast the spectacle, but to enhance the experience.

Now to mundaneity, there are only five points to make regarding the potential of nuclear power. First, conventional (meaning fission—splitting large elements like uranium) nuclear power plants will see a rebirth because the combined high price of oil/natural gas and threat of global climate change will compel decision-makers to reconsider and advance this option. Second, fusion (meaning combining hydrogen, as our Sun does, to provide energy) power will continue to be developed..for many decades to come. Third, cold fusion will keep coming back in many guises. There is something about this concept that intrigus me. The fourth issue is where to safely store all the dangerously radioactive fission waste. And fifth, the dirty (meaning radioactively potent) terrorist bomb could well become a guerilla weapon of choice in populated areas, water supplies and so on.

Petroleum seems to be settling below $125/barrel today. Still amazing.