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watch over the casks- hopefully
from a safe distance.
Still another possibility is to dis–
pose of the wastes in the uninhabited
areas of Greenland, the Arctic or the
Antarctic. But climatic changes
might melt the glaciers and ice caps,
releasing the radioactive garbage
which was stored there.
The abyssal plain of the seabeds
might also providc a burial place for
at least Jow-level wastes. But we
know so little about ocean currents
and how the seabeds change over
long periods of time that disposal at
sea could be potentially disastrous,
with the oceans dispersing deadly ra–
dioactivity throughout the world.
Finally, sorne have suggested that
toxic nuclear wastes be rocketed into
space- perhaps into the sun. As at–
tractive as this solution may sound, it
is impractical and dangerous. First,
the cost would be about $2,000,000
per reactor per year, just for waste
disposal. Moreover, there would al–
ways be the danger of rocket failure
which would cause highly radioactive
garbage to rain down over wide areas
on earth.
What is really needed is a fail-safe
disposal system good for half a mil–
lion years. Thus the price of nuclear
power will be a future of eterna! vigi–
lance and a legacy of radioactive
wastes for future generations.
Considering the grim possibilities
associated with nuclear wastes, we
might be tempted to simply reject the
atom as a source of power, but this
would raise the specter of a world
depleted of fossil fuels. Do we wish to
leave the future generations without
fossil materials--coal, gas and oil–
from which to extract fertilizers,
medicines, and plastics because we
decided to burn them instead of using
nuclear power? No easy answers are
yet forthcoming.
The Last Days: A Time of Danger
Nuclear wastes, if not carefully con–
trolled and monitored, have the po–
tential of causing great suffering and
death in the future- in a period the
Bible ca lis "the time of the end."
The apostle Paul, in describing
this period, said, " In the last days the
times will be full of danger ... "
( 11
Tim. 3:1, Phillips translation).
T he Bible indicates that conditions
on this earth will eventually be so
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1979
dangerous that all life, human or
otherwise, will be threatened with ex–
tinction. Only the intervention of the
returning Christ will prevent global
catastrophe. J csus described this
soon-coming period in Matthew
24:22: "And except those days
should be shortened, there should no
Hesh be saved [alive] ...."
Scripture also indicates that when
Christ returns, a great ecological res–
toration will be necessary (Acts 3:20-
21). Perhaps this restoration may at
least in part be due to the nuclear
contamination of the earth's surface.
Dr. John Gofman, professor emeritus
of medica! physics at the University
of California, contends that if just
one-thousandth of the radiation
emitted by nuclear wastes is lost in
storage- that is, if storage is 99.9
percent perfect- then sorne 190,000
cancer fatalities will ultimately be
added to the national death tolls each
year. Indeed, the exposure standards
for nuclear radiation have been low–
ered by a factor of 100 over the past
30 years and may be lowered again.
<;:an mankind enjoy the almost un–
limited power of the atom and yet
avoid its almost immortal pollution?
For many, the dilemma of nuclear
energy and its deadly wastes is a
modern form of the Faustian bar–
gain-for temporary benefits man–
kind may commit itself to an endless
future of suffering.
But Dr. Edward Teller, father of
the H-bomb, prefers a different anal–
ogy. "Instead of the medieval tale of
Dr. Faust," observes Teller, "I would
like to remind you of an older story:
Adam ate the apple of knowledge
and was expelled from paradise.
It
is
true that all knowledge is dangerous.
lt
is also true that we must work
hard, using our heads and hearts as
well as our hands, if knowledge is to
bear good fruit.' '
One thing is certain: In recent de–
cades, man's technological knowl–
edge has rapidly increased ata stag–
gering rate. Yet so have man's prob–
lems. Man apparently does not have
the wisdom to rightly use the tech–
nology at his disposal. "We run the
risk," says environmenta1 scientist
Barry Commoner, "of destroying this
planet as a suitable place for human
habitation."
The lethal legacy of nuclear waste
is a case in point.
o