Seth Barrett Tillman, Associate Professor
Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology
Scoil an Dlí agus na Coireolaíochta Ollscoil Mhá Nuad
(academic title & affiliation for
identification purposes only)
7 October 2022
The Irish Times
Letters
to the Editor
lettersed@irishtimes.com
RE: William Reville, ‘We need to take the nuclear option’ The Irish Times (Dublin, 6 October 2022) 8, <https://www.irishtimes.com/science/2022/10/06/ireland-needs-to-bite-the-bullet-on-nuclear-energy/>
I do
not doubt that today’s small modular nuclear reactors are safer than their
historical large-scale predecessors. But “safer” here means with regard to
accident and acts of God. The unspoken risks posed by nuclear power do not relate
to accident; rather, the substantial risks posed by nuclear power relate to intentional
wrongdoing in connection with crime, blackmail, terrorism, and war. Adopting
nuclear power is just a way of saying you wish to lose the next war—just look at
the threat posed to Europe by Russian occupation of Chernobyl and other Ukrainian
nuclear facilities.
Today,
Ireland is at peace: Ireland has no enemies which presently or in the near
future threaten an invasion of its landmass. If you believe that this will last
forever and that history is at an end, then just maybe nuclear power is a
reasonable option. But if history is not over, then nuclear power puts both
safety and hard-won national independence at risk.
Is
mise, le meas,
Seth Barrett
Tillman
Seth Barrett Tillman,
Letter to the Editor, ‘Nuclear power and war: National independence at risk,’ The Irish Times (Oct. 10, 2022, 2:45 AM),
<https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2022/10/10/nuclear-power-and-war/>;
Twitter: <https://twitter.com/SethBTillman/status/1578342109764980736>;
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