Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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nuclear plants of the current generation, no matter how many nuclear
licensing bills are passed. The only long-term hope for the industry is
in raeltdown-free designs. But the industry no longer has the political
muscle to gain the federal funds that will be needed to develop such
designs. The industry needs new political allies and a new source of
funds.
Why should environmentalists and solar electricity advocates support
a tax whose revenues would be shared with nuclear researchers? Because
there is no other way to develop a political consensus that will give
solar electricity the edge it needs to compete with electricity from
coal. If current trends continue, the nuclear option will certainly die,
but the victorious survivor will not be solar cells or solar collectors.
It will be polluting coal plants that cause respiratpry illness, acid
rain, and increased global
-5
temperatures.
Global warming from fossil fuel carbon dioxide is such a serious
environmental problem that environmentalists cannot afford to turn their
backs on any possible option that might prove preferable. If nuclear
researchers can develop the raeltdown-free designs that many scientists
believe are possible, and if solar electricity fails to live up to its
promise, then environmentalists of the next century will no doubt change
their opinion of
nuclear power.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Hopefully, the preceding remarks will spark discussion of positive responses
that can be made to the Chernobyl accident. The National Audubon Society is
ready to work cooperatively with a wide range of groups to help our country
break out of the dead end in energy policy in which we now seem to be
trapped. It is time to find consensus on energy policy.
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