Reactor Time

Atomic energy is making a comeback:

Juliann Edwards, the chairwoman of Women in Nuclear, said industry leaders in energy are predicting our demands for electricity will grow at a faster clip than ever before, and there is no better time than now to discuss how nuclear energy could help the U.S.'s energy supply meet that demand. "The Nuclear Frontier bus tour was our way to inspire, educate and mobilize public support for the development of nuclear power across America," said Edwards, an executive with the brand-new Nuclear Company. It makes sense for the company to begin its tour in western Pennsylvania, where just down the Ohio River in Shippingport's Beaver County, the first commercial nuclear reactor, a full-scale atomic electric power plant, began operating in 1957. Edwards was here in Pittsburgh with the U.S. Women in Nuclear Conference and said the choice of Pittsburgh was natural because of the nuclear energy history in the region, not just at the Shippingport plant but also because of Pittsburgh industrialist George Westinghouse's contribution to the industry.

What was once radioactive is new again...