Xref: utzoo sci.research:801 sci.space:10323 sci.environment:713 misc.headlines:7443 sci.misc:3335
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!bu-cs!encore!cloud9!jjmhome!cpoint!alien
From: alien@cpoint.UUCP (Alien Wells)
Newsgroups: sci.research,sci.space,sci.environment,misc.headlines,sci.misc
Subject: Re: Success with cold fusion reported
Message-ID: <2182@cpoint.UUCP>
Date: 29 Mar 89 16:16:20 GMT
References: <18213@glacier.STANFORD.EDU> <3451@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu> <77762DBH106@PSUVM>
Reply-To: alien@cpoint.UUCP (Alien Wells)
Organization: Clearpoint Research Corp., Hopkinton Mass.
Lines: 27

In article <77762DBH106@PSUVM> DBH106@PSUVM.BITNET writes:
>Bravo!  Bravo!!  The researchers at the University of Utah should be
>congratulated for their breakthrough.  Does this mean the environmentalists
>will have to find another line of work, with all the possible ways that
>a clean power source could be used to alleviate the pollution problem?

I dare say that a lot of them will attack this just as strongly as they have
attacked fission.  After all, the neutron emmissions will cause the 
containment to slowly become radioactive, so there will still be some 
hazardous waste to deal with (albeit orders of magnitude less than other
power sources).  Nuclear and radioactive are extremely emotionally laden
words with great camera appeal.

In addition, I expect the government to try to limit the use (if it works)
to utility use only for two reasons.  First, there will be political pressure
to protect the structure of utilities, despite the reality that we would
be better off putting one of these in everyone's home and eliminiating the
power grid.  Second, the US government tries to restrict access to heavy
water, one of the reasons that heavy water reactors (which cannot melt
down) are illegal for commercial (even utility) use in the US (they are
standard issue in Canada).

-- 
=============================================================================
		A path is a terrible thing to waste ...
	decvax!frog!cpoint!alien	bu_cs!mirror!frog!cpoint!alien
=============================================================================