Zippe's contributions to the design of centrifuges for isotope separation deserve a prize, because, at the time, he exceeded what even the most intense efforts of his rivals (namely the U.S. nuclear weapons program) could accomplish.
Unfortunately, centrifuges for uranium enrichment remain a highly secretive topic with very few practitioners, preventing broad recognition and appreciation of Zippe's work.
On one hand, thwarting nuclear proliferation might be good for the human race: preventing our own extinction through nuclear war. On the other hand, nuclear power is probably the most promising energy source in the very long run, because solar power is limited by area and geothermal by the earth's power. Preventing or slowing development of nuclear technologies could be stunting the future development of civilization, with possibly drastic consequences. (Is the future of nuclear power reactors using enriched uranium, or plutonium through breeder-reactors, or even thorium?)
Was decreasing Iran's uranium enrichment capability economically motivated by wanting to maintain a small oligopoly (monopoly) on uranium enrichment? In the long run, Iran might have attained economic and political power not by building bombs, but by becoming a world leader of providing services and expertise for uranium enrichment for nuclear reactors, certainly a useful thing to do as petroleum runs out and causes climate change.
No comments :
Post a Comment