Susan Eisenhower
President
The Eisenhower Group Inc.
Nuclear Energy Assembly
Atoms for Peace . . . 60 Years Later
Washington, D.C.
May 14, 2013
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests,
What a pleasure it is for me to address this Assembly today, to help mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Nuclear Energy Institute, originally the Atomic Industrial Forum.
Also sixty years ago this December 8, in a speech before the United Nations, President Dwight D. Eisenhower outlined a strategic vision for the United States and for the world. It changed the way we see the potential of atomic power and ushered in a new era of international cooperation and partnership in a security sensitive area—nuclear science−which until that time had threatened us all.
It was a vision for the future that would be long-term in nature and bold in its results. It placed the United States at the forefront of events, assuring that it would be through our guidance and our standards that the world would make a transition to the peaceful use of this mighty source of power and energy. It brought the Soviet Union back to the arms control bargaining table—leading to the declassification of an entire area of nuclear science, fusion—and it engaged former colonial countries in peaceful cooperation rather than in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“To the making of these fateful decisions,” President Eisenhower said, “the United States pledges before you, and therefore before the world, its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma—to devote its entire heart and mind to finding the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life.”
And it was through Eisenhower’s strategic leadership, first through this speech and later during his presidency, that those dangerous times were mitigated in favor of hope and common purpose. The atomic weapon had already been used by the United States twice, at the end of World War II. And by 1953, not only did Great Britain have atomic weapons, but the Soviet Union—all but destroyed during World War II—had possession of them as well. That August of 1953, the Soviet Union broke the US monopoly on the hydrogen bomb, sending the terrifying message that humankind could now annihilate itself with one miscalculation.
In a time of growing uncertainty and rising fear, Eisenhower recognized the need for his address to calm the nerves of the world. After being shown countless drafts of the speech, Eisenhower recalled, “Every version left listeners with only a new sense of terror … ” so the president took over the reins of developing the ideas and crafting the speech.
In fact, on reaching Manhattan by plane just before giving the speech, Eisenhower had Air Force One circle the city four times while he put the final touches on his address. (Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, Lewis Strauss, did the last minute mimeographing.)
Before the representatives of the 60 member counties, Eisenhower outlined the imperative.
“Today, the United States’ stockpile of atomic weapons, which, of course, increases daily, exceeds by many times the total equivalent of all bombs and all shells that came from every plane and every gun in every theatre of war in all the years of the Second World War,” the President told the assembled representatives that day.
“First, the knowledge now possessed by several nations will eventually be shared by others, possibly all others.”
“Second, even a vast superiority in numbers of weapons, and a consequent capability of devastating retaliation, is no preventive, of itself, against the fearful material damage and toll of human lives that would be inflicted by surprise aggression.”
“To pause there,” he said. “would be to confirm the hopeless finality of a belief that two atomic colossi are doomed malevolently to eye each other indefinitely across a trembling world.”
“It is not enough to take this weapon out of the hands of the soldiers. It must be put into the hands of those who will know how to strip its military casing and adapt it to the arts of peace.”
The President articulated a vision that would lead to international cooperation on atomic issues—from the production of electricity to applications for medicine and agriculture. And, for the next seven years of his presidency, he intervened personally countless times to assure that the international community, especially the Soviet Union, was engaged in dialogue and purposeful action. During his administration, a series of Atoms for Peace international scientific conferences were initiated, and other “firsts” came online, including the first commercial nuclear reactor at Shippingport in 1957.
While Eisenhower’s speech was a vision, not a blueprint, many of the critical elements of his proposal—an international atomic energy agency and eventually an international fuel bank under the aegis of the UN—are now in place. The number of nuclear countries, though more than we would like, is only a fraction of what had been anticipated by both Democrats and Republicans at the time. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty eventually became the international framework for the “grand bargain” that survives to this day.
Over the intervening decades, 437 reactors have been built in 31 countries, with a net installed electric capacity of 372 GW.
Today, there are 68 nuclear energy plants under construction in 15 countries that will produce net installed energy capacity of 65 GW.
Not only are those plants critical for economic development, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute (published in Scientific American) clean nuclear power may have saved 1.8 million lives over these years which may have otherwise been lost due to fossil fuel production and consumption. It is estimated that it may save 7 million more lives in the future.
The lifesaving nature of nuclear medicine may be even more remarkable. Every year, more than 20 million Americans benefit from imaging technology used to diagnose and treat a variety of diseases. And, the use of low-dose radiation is a safe and cost-effective alternative to exploratory surgery.
At the same, the U.S. industry can boast a remarkable record of safety in reactor operations and transportation of nuclear material.
Despite these achievements, many people see only the challenges the nuclear industry confronts—not the continued opportunities for reducing carbon emissions, and generating safe, reliable and cost effective electricity over a reactor’s life cycle.
The building and maintenance of nuclear energy sometimes seems to be at odds with the short term mentality that now afflicts us. Little attention, it seems, is given to the importance of the longer view, and creating an environment that fosters a backbone capability for both addressing our future energy needs, as well as mitigating climate change, and offering a truly clean source of energy for advancement of electric cars—and other transformational technologies.
It is time to change the conversation and reassert the confidence and rekindle the dream.
Nuclear energy is the only energy source that pays for its waste disposal up front. While we have had significant issues in dealing with waste management issues in the United States, the Blue Ribbon Commission, on which I served as a member, has offered a roadmap for taking waste disposal out of the political process and employing a consent-based siting process to assure program stability. Draft legislation is now being proposed and communities are beginning to come forward as potential site hosts, with an exciting sense of renewal.
The tsunami-induced accident at Fukishima has created challenges for the industry, but despite this nuclear “new build” is continuing around the world. It is up to us to find ways to reduce the public affairs impact of that accident, by assisting with the management of the clean-up and instilling confidence that the international community has learned important lessons from this unfortunate experience.
Furthermore, the abundance of natural gas, while an enormous boon for the US economy, may have taken the wind from our nuclear sails. But, given the growing concerns about climate change, it is nuclear—as the only carbon-free baseload source of electricity—not gas, that will be the electricity generation of the future.
While security is a significant concern for us all—the world is a safer place because of the Megatons to Megawatts program. Run at no cost to taxpayers, 500 metric tons (MT) of Russian highly enriched uranium (HEU), the equivalent of 20,000 warheads, will have been recycled into LEU by the end of 2013—enough to power the entire United States for about two years. To put it in another way, one in every 10 light bulbs is electrified by Soviet-era warheads.
Reform of the fuel cycle also promises to increase security. Providing cradle to grave fuel services could transform the global security picture, by addressing the back end of the fuel cycle.
While at times addressing these issues seem difficult to manage, nothing we are confronting today could pose a bigger challenge than that which we faced by the danger, the uncertainty and the fear created by the advent of the atomic and hydrogen bombs. Yet we were able to act.
That’s why strategic leadership is required again today to help promote the development of a framework that will marry the benefits of nuclear energy with our security imperatives.
Our strategy must include more than just speeches about the importance regarding “all of the above” sources of generation for this country. We need clear incentives for industry that will assure the establishment of a balanced energy portfolio, which will provide stability, reliability and options for powering this country.
Finally, it is essential that we “stay in the game”—to continue to influence the world on safety standards and nonproliferation norms. Such global leadership was what we accomplished with Atoms for Peace—it is what we must assure today.
We need to re-engage the dream and communicate America’s nuclear story—with a human face—of success.
In doing so we can share the pride that it was, and is, America that has advanced a technology that has saved millions of lives. It was, and is, America that built an industry that has operated cleanly and safely and has pioneered technologies for the betterment of mankind. This is what Americans have done. This is what we will continue to do.
“It is with the book of history,” Eisenhower said on December 8, 1953, “not with the isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified.”
Let us reinvent and recommit to our nuclear future.
For more from Susan Eisenhower and The Eisenhower Group, visit www.susaneisenhower.com or follow them on Twitter @eisenhowergroup.