TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/052190/0521530.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 3.8 KB | 83 lines

                                                                                SAKHAROV, Page 60

"Mankind Cannot Do Without Nuclear Power"

By Andrei Sakharov


[From Memoirs. (c) 1990 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Translated by
Richard Lourie]

    After the Chernobyl nuclear-reactor catastrophe of April 26,
1986, the reports in the Soviet press led me to adopt far too
sanguine an approach. One clue that should have alerted me to
a possible cover-up was a mid-May report that several fire
fighters had perished; if radiation levels in the vicinity of
the Chernobyl plant did not exceed 10 to 15 milliroentgens an
hour, what could have caused their deaths?

    In fact, the radiation levels published in the Soviet press
were 1% or less of the true figures. But there were other,
subjective reasons for my complacency: my preconceptions, my
mental inertia and sheer wishful thinking.

    When Lusia returned from a visit to the West, her
information on Chernobyl shook me. Czechoslovakia, Sweden,
Poland and Hungary had demanded an explanation from Soviet
authorities for the high levels of radiation throughout Europe.
Poles were given iodine tablets to speed the elimination of
radioactive iodine from their systems -- which raised the
question of what was being done in the U.S.S.R., where the
level of radioactivity was much greater. In the Ukraine and
Belorussia, pregnant women were advised to have abortions. My
initial optimism was completely dispelled. It was important
to decide in my own mind what should be done about nuclear
power.

    Plainly, mankind cannot renounce nuclear power, so we must
find technical means to guarantee its absolute safety and
exclude the possibility of another Chernobyl. The best way is
international legislation requiring that all new nuclear
reactors be sited deep enough underground so that even a
worst-case accident would not discharge radioactive substances
into the atmosphere. Existing aboveground reactors should be
protected by reliable containment structures. The first
priority should be to safeguard atomic plants that supply power
and heat to large cities, reactors with graphite moderators
like the one that malfunctioned at Chernobyl, and fast-neutron
breeder reactors.

    I also became interested in the possibility of reducing
earthquake damage by burying thermonuclear charges deep
underground in seismologically active areas and detonating them
to relieve the buildup of tension when strains in the earth's
core approach the critical level. If this proves feasible, we
could control at least the timing of earthquakes; people and
property could be evacuated in orderly fashion. To preclude the
escape of any radiation, the explosion would probably have to
be two or more miles beneath the earth's surface.

    On Feb. 15, 1987, addressing the Moscow Forum for a
Non-Nuclear World for the Survival of Mankind, I had this to
say on the peaceful use of atomic energy:

    "Nuclear weapons divide and threaten mankind. But there are
peaceful uses of nuclear energy that should promote the unity
of mankind. Chernobyl was an example of the tragic interaction
of equipment failure and human error. Nevertheless, the
aversion people rightly feel for military applications must not
spill over to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Mankind
cannot do without nuclear power. We must find a solution to the
safety problem that will rule out another Chernobyl resulting
from human error, failure to follow instructions, design
defects or technical malfunction."

    I concluded, "People concerned about the potential harmful
consequences of the peaceful use of nuclear energy should
concentrate their efforts not on attempts to ban nuclear power,
but instead on demands to assure its complete safety."