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The Dangers of Nuclear IceNine

We were just about to start getting back into the nuclear energy business ourselves after refraining from building any new nuclear reactors for decades.
The great cautionary tale of the 19th century is Frankenstein, Mary Shelly’s novel. It’s the story of a brilliant scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who builds a monster out of spare parts and then breathes life into it.
Instead of being grateful to his creator, the monster runs away. It eventually destroys Frankenstein and everyone he cares about.
The great cautionary tale of the 20th century is Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut’s novel. It’s the story of a brilliant scientist, A. Felix Hoeniker, who invents a substance (“ice-nine”) that can freeze water at room temperature.
It’s a military project designed to freeze mud at any temperature, thereby making it easier to wage war in the rainy season. Ice-nine’s only failing is that you can’t make it stop. It freezes the mud and nearby streams and all other water it comes in contact with.
In the course of Vonnegut’s book, the substance is carelessly delivered into the ocean where it freezes pretty much all water everywhere, ending life as we know it.
The cautionary tale of the 21st century is Japan.
Nuclear War and Peace the novel has yet to be written, but that country seems to be locked into a Doomsday scenario that reminds one of Dr. Strangelove’s end-of-the-world machine. In quick succession, it has suffered an earthquake, a tidal wave, a flood of Biblical proportions, fire, and the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Maybe not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.
The nuclear disaster is the most worrisome of all.

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