Energy: Nukes: Not Nice, but Necessary

The crippling legacy of the accident at Three Mile Island

For American nuclear power development, it has been the worst of times. Though the U.S. still draws about 12% of its electricity from 70 atomic plants, 15 other nuclear facilities were canceled after last year's accident at Three Mile Island, and no new reactors have been ordered in two years. Meanwhile, antinuclear lawsuits and Government regulations have pushed the startup time for a new plant to as long as 15 years. Costs have increased accordingly.

Development of nuclear power has come to a virtual standstill in the U.S., even though energy analysts are generally convinced that the broader use of atomic energy is inevitable. New technologies to harness solar, wind and geothermal energy are not expected to be commercially significant for at least another 20 years. A National Academy of Sciences study this year concluded that, without some more nuclear power in the next few decades, the U.S. will come to rely too heavily on coal, causing possible irreversible damage to the world's environment. Concludes George W. Cunningham, an Assistant Secretary of Energy: "We can survive without nuclear energy, but we cannot have a healthy, growing economy and an improved standard of living for those who need it."

Two major hurdles remain in the path of atomic energy. The first is the disposal of nuclear waste. Spent fuel rods contain radioactive isotopes that remain potentially lethal for thousands of years. The industry believes that there are several ways to handle the problem. The most promising is vitrification, a process that mixes the nuclear waste with glass; the material hardens into a black solid cylinder which is easy to store.

The second, and possibly more difficult hurdle will be convincing the public that nuclear plants can be safely used and turned off in emergencies. An electrical generating plant that is powered by coal, oil or natural gas can be stopped in minutes. But the process can be much more perilous at a nuclear facility. When malfunctions occur, the nuclear reaction that produces the energy cannot be shut down instantly; even afterward, heat and radioactivity remain. Three Mile Island demonstrated that control-room personnel are not always prepared to handle an emergency. In the past year the nuclear industry and the Government spent millions of dollars to improve control-room warning systems and to upgrade training programs. Even among nuclear proponents, though, there is still some concern about the danger of human error.

One remote solution to many of atomic energy's problems may be nuclear fusion. The fission reactors now in use create energy by splitting atoms apart, but in fusion, atoms are smashed together. This method is potentially cheaper and safer. Experts, however, say that the technology is at least 25 years off.

While the U.S. remains traumatized by the Three Mile Island incident, other industrialized nations are moving rapidly in the field of nuclear power. The most aggressive program now belongs to France, which plans to draw 75% of its electricity from the atom by 1990. In 1983 France will complete work on its massive 1,200-megawatt Super Phenix, the country's second fast-breeder reactor. France also leads in developing types of nuclear-waste disposal technology.