Recently I had the unusual experience, for a biochemist, of serving on the thesis committee of a student in nuclear engineering at the University of Utah and thereby visiting the laboratory of the chairman of that committee. Just inside a second room that opens from a normal university hallway, the visitor looks straight down into the heart of a water-shielded nuclear reactor. This reactor was physically built by the professor and his students with sturdy, low cost materials and cast-off technology from larger reactors elsewhere.
This is exactly the sort of facility that should be available to students in universities throughout the United States. There are presently only 37 research and training reactors at 33 such universities. Motivated by the "Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990'' and a recent court decision, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided to assess a $62,100 annual fee for each of these reactors in the form of an immediate bill for $124,200 for 1993 and 1994. This will cause many research reactors to close.
Elsewhere, Clinton plans the closure of America's last fast breeder reactor, the experimental Integral Fast Breeder in Idaho.
No doubt the closure of research and experimental reactors is what Clinton meant when he promised to stimulate America's technological competitiveness. To facilitate more such hands-on technological direction, Clinton is creating a new National Science and Technology Council to oversee all U. S. science and technology. This way central planning can assure that innovation doesn't slip through the cracks and reach the market anyway regardless of government policy.
Perhaps, when the smoke clears in Moscow, retainer Gore can arrange to buy nuclear technology from the Third World.
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Vol. 21, No. 3
Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Issues Issue/No.: Vol. 21, No. 3 Date: November 01, 1993 05:47 PM Title: The Euthanasia Act of 1994
Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
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