The sense of doom in us today is not a fear of nuclear power but a fear of war. Nuclear weapons have enlarged the mechanism of war by threatening to kill more people more secretly and more horribly than those of the past. The nightmare of Hiroshima is vivid memory and there is no way to outlaw a war, so the only alternative is to go nuclear in the hope that nuclear weapons hidden in stock somewhere serve to maintain world peace by theory of counter-attack. And yet, going nuclear serves the purpose of energy supply. Now the classic question: "To be or not to be?"

 

Nuclear energy is cheap and clean. It is a solution to an energy crisis at a time when other forms of generating electricity are facing limits. Already power plants have been in operation in a number of countries. These are successful examples to be followed. And it comes as no surprise that more power plants are being built for peaceful use. In all appearances, the fear of war is overcome by the need for economic development.

 

Obviously, there are reasons to believe that the benefits of nuclear power will overweigh the disadvantages in the long run. Besides, there is no going back. The feeling of mutual trust on the international front must therefore prevail in order to ensure lasting peace. It is generally agreed that nuclear weapons should be the last thing to be thought of as a means to win a war because there would be no winner in any nuclear conflict. If anything goes wrong, the scale of destruction on human lives and civilization is beyond imagination.

 

In spite of reasonable fear for a nuclear war, nuclear know-how is not warlike. Rather, it is a by-product of warlike society. The nuclear science and technology have provided the means, for good or for bad. And the world must seize it for good, for peaceful use forever.