ARQ: Since the beginning of the nuclear era in the 20th century, you have enjoyed a monopolistic influence and authority over everything nuclear, based on your vast knowledge of actinides.
Dr. Actinide: It has been said that a lot of intangible things ride on an individual's name: fame and fortune, status, character, and pedigree. The same things can be said about a hundred or so known elements in the universe. Some of these elements are born privileged. The actinide class of elements for which I speak is one of the privileged whose influence on the human race will not soon diminish.
ARQ: Will plutonium go the way of Pluto in terms of its reputation?
Dr. Actinide: A good question. As you know, man-made plutonium was born in the middle of the last century and named after the farthest planet in the solar system. Pluto has now fallen out of its planetary status and joined the rank of icy comets. For the past 50 years since its birth, man-made plutonium has enjoyed unmitigated attention from you in the eyes of its jealous elemental brethren. Will plutonium suffer the same degree of diminished status as its name source? Some spectacular comets visit Earth once in a lifetime, and then fade away for another generation to marvel at their sightings. So some may think of plutonium, with its cometlike visibility brightest during the past few decades. Whatever its reputation, plutonium will be around in the future, just as it has been around from the beginning of time.
ARQ: What do you consider to be the major events of the past century in the area of actinide science?
Dr. Actinide: It has been a little more than 50 years since the dawn of the nuclear age-a relatively short time. Clearly, one of the most significant developments in the 20th century was the human race's recognition of the potential power of actinides, although there are other elements also worthy of recognition, like oxygen, which you need to live, and hydrogen, which fuels the sun.
ARQ: It's just our habit of looking at things and events from a human perspective. Nonetheless, you will agree that the past 50 years have been eventful. Many events have occurred because of various applications of actinides.
Dr. Actinide: Unquestionably so. The bomb-building race between the two world superpowers using uranium and plutonium captured people's imagination and threatened to destroy civilization as you know it. This has afforded me a certain degree of notoriety, but I am glad to see that some common sense prevails among the world powers today. They managed to reduce the nuclear threat during the last decade of the 20th century. It also is commendable that during the last 50 years you have been able to extract some benefits from the peaceful use of actinides, namely as a source of nuclear power for the world's unquenchable thirst for energy. The choice between the two principal uses‹nuclear explosive and nuclear energy‹is entirely up to you.
ARQ: Do you foresee any proliferation danger of nuclear weapons in this century?
Dr. Actinide: Tools in human hands can be used either defensively or offensively. Tools in the hands of a madman will always present a threat. As long as individual nations consider that there is something to be gained by possessing nuclear weapons in terms of power, status, self-protection, superiority, or whatever, there will always be a nuclear proliferation threat. So far, there have not been any strong disincentives for possessing nuclear weapons, only attractiveness to some governments for their awesome destructive power to cover up other weaknesses. The world community will have to come up with a solution to this problem.
ARQ: Do you have any thoughts on worldwide plutonium proliferation?
Dr. Actinide: It's a well-known fact that what started out as a minute quantity in a test tube in one country about half a century ago has now grown to a thousand or more tons spread around some 30 countries. That's proliferation. The quantity of plutonium produced in nuclear reactors is increasing, and the number of countries that will produce more plutonium will also increase. You might say plutonium proliferation has continued unabated for the past 50 years.
ARQ: We call that legitimate proliferation. How about other proliferation dangers, such as theft or production of nuclear materials by rogue nations?
Dr. Actinide: You must keep in mind two things: quantity and frequency. Because more nations are producing more plutonium and processing it more frequently, it is very likely that at some point you may not be able to say that you have any control over the matter. That's the real danger.
ARQ: You paint a fairly gloomy picture. Is the increased processing of plutonium all we should be worried about concerning plutonium proliferation?
Dr. Actinide: Not entirely. Plutonium is a naturally occurring element. However, atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons has put a significant amount of plutonium into the environment. Continued processing of nuclear materials and accidental releases also deposit minute, but detectable, amounts of plutonium into the environment. This amount accumulates over many years because the major isotopic components of plutonium do not decay perceptively on the human time scale, except for the specific isotope plutonium-238, which is used in your space missions. In some cases, as in Russia, nuclear reactors in decaying abandoned submarines pose enormous potential bioenvironmental hazards.
ARQ: Any thoughts on this new century?
Dr. Actinide: In the first half of the 21st century, you'll face the daunting task of cleaning up the mess you produced during the last half-century. In addition, you¹ll have to safely manage the world's nuclear weapons stockpiles, while at the same time reducing the number of weapons. After accomplishing the cleanup task, and with some fresh air, the human race may develop a whole new perspective about itself and its surroundings. This new perspective may enable people to see that there are other purposes of human intelligence besides threatening each other with tools of mass destruction. But I'm afraid that you may not have the luxury of achieving this enlightened state before you have to deal with the more serious issue of a worldwide glut of plutonium.
ARQ: A glut? Will it really be that bad?
Dr. Actinide: As nations demand and consume more energy, they may not have much choice but to tap further into the vast potential energy source of actinides. Let's assume that in the distant future, 96 percent of the world's population outside the United States will reach the same level of energy consumption as the United States, which currently consumes about 30 percent of the world's total energy. That's a 10-fold increase in world energy consumption. Regardless of whether this energy demand is met by fossil energy or nuclear energy, this scenario spells certain disaster. Add to that the projected world population growth, and the momentum for accelerated production of plutonium only increases. With the increased demand for energy by the growing world population, you will see a shift-plutonium will be less a proliferation concern and more a means to international cooperation toward better materials management. Better management of existing resources through conservation, efficient usage, and new development is the key to future prosperity for all. You also may be able to learn enough to harness nuclear energy from other elements like hydrogen, which is more abundant and perhaps less polluting.
ARQ: Any final thoughts?
Dr. Actinide: Many of the problems that you face or will face are common throughout the world. No nation alone has all the necessary resources and scientific knowledge to solve the world's nuclear problems, or to develop new energy sources. Nations will have to come together to help each other. It is a global problem.
ARQ: How soon will we see this happening?
Dr. Actinide: There is no telling. Your guess is as good as mine, but I can tell you this: You do not have to do anything to see the sun rise tomorrow morning, but if you do not plant the seed of a better tomorrow, you surely will not see a brighter future for following generations.
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