Nuclear Power's Original Mistake: Trying to Domesticate the Bomb

In recent years, the Fukushima disaster, staggering cost overruns, and a rising tide of cheap solar power has pushed the nuclear energy industry closer and closer to the brink. Last week, the Westinghouse Electric Co., long a leader in nuclear power plant design and construction, went bankrupt. Suddenly, the demise of nuclear energy is no longer impossible to imagine.

Dwight Eisenhower, for one, would not be pleased. More than sixty years ago, the 34th president of the United States launched an idealistic quest to turn what he called the “greatest of destructive forces … into a great constructive force for mankind.” Unfortunately, his campaign, while noble in intent, didn’t pay attention to the bottom line -- a problem that has bedeviled the industry ever since.