Replies

Thank you sincerely for explaining the source of this statement. However, like a rumor with wings, "It was said by one man, one time" isn't the whole truth. It was repeated, distorted if you say so, in at least one documentary which made hyperbolic claims about the 'peaceful atom', while warning about the bad side of nuclear energy. This pro-disarmament, utopian documentary was shown at our church when I was about 11 years old (circa 1959). That's how I know about it.

BTW, I no longer associate with that denomination. It is one of the most liberal-infested/infiltrated religious instruments of leftist hype in the world. Not going to name it though, out of respect for it's noble early history.

Anyhow, thanks again. And I have no bone to pick. I would welcome something approaching 'free energy', and I suspect it is coming, but not next week or next year.

Certainly the words have been repeated by others, but only in the context of denigrating the commercial nuclear industry. It is often repeated by anti-nuclear persons and groups in an attempt to discredit the economics of nuclear energy and to impugn the personal integrity of those who support the industry.

Lewis Strauss made that statement in 1954. There were no large-scale commercial nuclear plants then. The first came on line in this country in 1969. No responsible person in the commercial industry ever said those words. Strauss was merely speculating on a possible future world where things would be different than they were then. One difference might be that electrical energy in bulk would be abundant enough to offer users on a flat-rate basis, just as many wireless plans, cable TV and Internet services, and regular maintenance on various items and systems, are available today.