Too cheap to meter: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:42, 29 January 2020

Revision as of 19:46, 29 January 2020

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In 1980, the [[Atomic Industrial Forum]] wrote an article quoting Lewis H. Strauss, Strauss's son, claiming that he was not talking about [[nuclear fission]], but [[nuclear fusion]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Report on public understanding of nuclear energy, #142 |date=May 1980 |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-last=Livingston |editor2-last=Bianchi |editor2-first=Ron |date=May 1980 |publisher=Atomic Industrial Forum}}</ref> As the AEC's [[Project Sherwood]] was still classified at the time, he was not allowed to refer to this work directly, thus causing confusion. Since that time, the claim has been widely repeated, including in 2003 comments by Donald Hintz, chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute.{{sfn|Wellock|2016}}

To support this argument, Strauss and biographer Pfau point to statements made in which he noted "industry would have electrical power from atomic furnaces in five to fifteen years."{{sfn|Billington|2010|p=238}} HoweverIt was claimed that this timeline implies that Strauss was referring to fusion, not fission.{{sfn|Wellock|2016}} But this is not a direct quote, this version of the statement appeared in the ''[[New York Times]]'' overview of the speech the next day.<ref>{{cite news |title=Abundant Power from Atom Seen; It will be too cheap for our children to meter, Strauss tells science writers |newspaper=New York Times |date=17 September 1954 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/09/17/archives/abundant-power-from-atom-seen-it-will-be-too-cheap-for-our-children.html |p=5}}</ref> It is claimed that this timeline implies that Strauss was referring to fusion, not fission.{{sfn|Wellock|2016}}

The statement in question is actually:

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<blockquote>Dr. Lawrence Hafstad, whom all of you surely know, happens to be speaking, today, in Brussels before the Congress of Industrial Chemistry. He heads the Reactor Development Division of the Atomic Energy Commission. Therefore, he expects to be asked, "How soon will you have industrial atomic electric power in the United States?" His answer is "from 5 to 15 years depending on the vigor of the development effort."{{sfn|Strauss|1954|p=9}}</blockquote>

This statement is referring directly to fission reactors, potentially in the near future, and immediately precedes the "too cheap to meter" claimstatement.{{sfn|Strauss|1954|p=9}}

The speech as a whole contains large sections about the development of fission power, and the difficulties the Commission was having communicating this fact. He wryly notes receiving letters addressed to the "Atomic Bomb Commission" and then quotes a study that demonstrates the public is largely ignorant of the development of atomic power.{{sfn|Strauss|1954|p=5}} He goes on to briefly recount the development of fission, noting a letter from [[Leo Szilard]] of sixteen years earlier where he speaks of the possibility of a [[chain reaction]].{{sfn|Strauss|1954|p=7}}