Michael Mallary, Ph.D.
September 23, 2012
The growth in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is already having significant climatic impacts. World wide, the average temperature increase since the industrial revolution has been more than a degree Fahrenheit. Over the land it is more than twice that. In the arctic, summer ice has receded to the point where the Northwest Passage is now open. Projections to the end of this century forecast increases in the world average of 5 to 15 degrees. The droughts, heat waves and floods of recent times is child’s play compared to what our grandchildren will face, if we continue to drop the ball on this issue.
Stabilization of the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will require a world wide reduction of 70% from the present level of emissions. Conservation, wind and solar energy cannot meet this challenge. Adequate energy storage technology does not exist to provide power when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. Only Nuclear Power can satisfy our “base load” requirements without adding carbon to the air. The sooner we implement this solution, the less horrific the world of our grandchildren will be. The Fukushima disaster highlights the need to do it right. Modern reactors such as the Westinghouse AP1000 with passive emergency cooling systems will not repeat this tragedy. In the future thorium reactors will not only be safe, but will not require nuclear material which could be used for bombs. Development of these systems is estimated to take about 20 years. Fortunately, the modern reactors are safe and can be used immediately to reduce our carbon emissions. See the presentation for more information.
Biography:
In 2004 Dr Mallary authored Our Improbable Universe. It is the scientifically comprehensive account of how the raw energy of the Big Bang evolved into us. It is such a shame, that we are destroying the high point of this incredible 14 billion year creative process in less than a century. Most of the things, for which our ancestors prayed to their gods, we can now accomplish. They would roll over in their graves if they could witness our folly.
Dr. Mallary received his S.B. degree in physics from M.I.T in 1966 and his PhD degree in Experimental High Energy Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1972. As an Assistant Professor in the physics department of Northeastern University he worked on an experiment at Fermi Laboratory that produced early evidence for the fifth quark in 1977. As part of this work, he hazarded exposure to significant radiation levels in order to repair a failed magnet and therefore has some personal appreciation of the heroic effort of the Fukushima operators.
Since 1980, Dr Mallary has worked on the design and modeling of heads and media for advanced magnetic disk drive recording. He has 51 publications and holds 92 U.S. patents and 50 foreign patents.
Humanist Community Forum (2012-09-23): Nuclear Power Can Mitigate Climate Change (Dr. Michael Mallary) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.