But from the beginning of the project in the early 1940s, the scientists always felt strongly that this new technology, developed at government expense, would provide great benefits to mankind.ĭistinguished scientists like Henry Smythe and Glenn Seaborg held high positions of power all the way up until the early 1970s, and through them many of the greatest and most idealistic scientists, like Enrico Fermi, Eugene Wigner, and Hans Bethe, exerted great influence on the course of events. Their first objective was to save the world from the hideous Hitler, and after World War II it was to protect freedom and democracy through military strength. None of them thought about making money, and there was no mechanism for them to do so. Their motivation was entirely idealistic. They banded together to obtain government support the highly publicized letter from Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt in 1941 was a key element in that process. It was conceived and brought into being by the world's greatest scientists. With nuclear energy, everything was to be entirely different. Coal-burning technologies have been an excellent example of this development process. At that point an adversarial relationship may develop, with the government serving to protect the public at the expense of the industry. Only after the public revolts against the pollution inflicted upon it does the issue of the environment come into the picture. In the process, the environmental impacts of this new technology are the least of their concerns. If the technology is successful, the entrepreneurs prosper as a new industry develops and thrives. Technologies are normally developed by entrepreneurs whose primary goal is making money. Next=> THE FEARSOME REACTOR MELTDOWN ACCIDENT
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