Ted Rockwell's Crusade
Nuclear’s problems go back to Rickover. He figured any unplanned release of radioactive material would kill nuclear power before it got started. So Rickover adopted the Navy system, but on steroids. It was horribly inefficient and costly; but that was inconsequential if you are in a mortal struggle with the Russians for world domination.
A strong dictator and unlimited money can make the system work. But when Rickover was no longer around, the system was taken over by ass covering bureaucrats, whose only goal was staying out of trouble. Despite nuclear's remarkable energy density, which made nascent nuclear fully competitive with coal in the 1960's, these apparatchiks quickly priced US nuclear out of business.
So the establishment turned to fleecing the taxpayer, for decabillion spent fuel studies, and centibillion dollar clean up programs. This required the taxpayer be scared. So the mantra is any radiation is so dangerous we must spend billions on clean up, safety, and endless studies of the same. Their main weapon is LNT, a model which massively exaggerates the harm of low dose rate radiation, by brazenly denying our ability to repair radiation damage, something even LNTer's inconsistently accept. The Hanford ripoff is their crowning achievement The fact that they are killing nuclear power, mankind's only real hope of solving energy poverty and global warming, does not seem to bother them.
There was one establishment guy who both saw what was going down, and had the guts to try and do something about it. His credentials were impeccable. He was Rickover's right hand man, Ted Rockwell. No one other than Rickover was more responsible for the success of the nuclear submarine program than Rockwell. The guy was not only a world class engineer, he could write. A couple of examples are here and here. They are well worth your time.
In these articles in the nuclear press, Rockwell skirts around the dark motivation issue; but in a 2000 letter to the NRC arguing against LNT, he let it all hang out:
The short-term benefits to regulators and industry by the current commitment to waste massive public resources by fabricating public fears of radiation are ethically and morally untenable, as well as legally questionable.1
Rockwell knew the NRC would deny their motives were anything but saintly concern for human safety, so he ended the letter with an anecdote.
As the head of one national radiation protection program hissed to me at the BRPS Conference: ``We know your agenda; to kill the golden goose."[ibid]
But publicly the establishment was far more circumspect. Rockwell received all sorts of awards, was listened to respectfully. And then ignored. Despite his credentials, despite the fact they had no counter arguments, Rockwell has had no impact on the nuclear establishment. We know why.
But why do the rest of us ignore him?
Rockwell, T. and Muckerheide, J., Radiation Health Effects and the LNT Model of Radiation Protection, Radiation, Science andHealth, April, 2000, NRC LTR-00-0252
Rickover has been sanctified in all the nuclear circles. His paper reactor quote is parroted ad nauseam. Your perspective is refreshing. Basically pigeonholed humanity into highly regulated, militaristic, and exclusively lwr tech. Other countries had too little confidence and too much need for US financial support to break away and define their own nuclear tech and industry.