It's a reflection of how little most of us know about nuclear power generation that we fell apoplectic at the Fukushima reactor disaster. The tragedy of Fukushima is if we allow an accident caused by a tsunami at an aged, "first generation" reactor plant to seal the fate of the latest, fourth generation nuclear technology which, alone, may hold the key to the future of our civilization.
I strongly urge you to read Dr. Steve Kirsch's open letter to Obama's energy and climate change assistant director, Heather Zichal. Kirsch is writing, not as an investor or developer or someone looking for handouts, but as one person who has come to understand the enormous benefits that fourth generation nuclear power offers us at the very moment when we need them more than ever.
He points out that today's IFR "fast reactor" technology can safely and reliably help in averting runaway global warming, safely dispose of existing nuclear waste, generate base-load carbon-free power at very low cost, avoid creating any additional long-lived nuclear waste, stimulate economic growth and create jobs and at the same time save billions in government spending.
Read the letter. IFR, today, may be just the breakthrough we need right when we most need it.
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