A Visitor to the Future - 58 - Nuclear Legacy
"Thorium reactor? Nuclear energy?" I said, glancing around myself in a worried fashion, as if I could somehow see the threat of radiation.
"Relax," said Waiola, her tone not at all reassuring, "This site has been inactive for almost four hundred years. We also removed the remnants of the reactor setup a few weeks ago, and the rest of the interior to be safe. This site is now as radioactive as any place on Earth. Anything that can't be reclaimed or reused is stored in a sealed habitat in Earth orbit to safely decay."
"Don't forget that Bio-dev does wonders for radiation exposure too," said Sarkona, "Unless you decide to hug a nuclear reactor or something you'd be fine."
I let out a breath, Malcolm raising an eyebrow at my relief. He took the chance to explain in more detail. "The removal of fissile and radioactive material from human interaction on Earth was one of the first things that the Earth Reclamation Project did. The Consortium still mines Thorium from the Earth and uses it in deep space where it's safe and practical to do so, past Jupiter. Over such long distances, solar beaming loses efficiency, so it's easier to use local power sources. Mostly fission. The Consortium has access to a lot of nuclear material, and it makes sense to use it."
"You said the project removed radioactive material - I'm assuming that means nuclear explosives too?" I asked.
"Yes, the Consortium doesn't just keep nuclear charges lying around - it only assembles them when they're needed," said Malcolm nonchalantly.
I blinked, "The Consortium can make nukes?"
Sarkona stepped in, "Ah, I think Malcolm might be missing some context from your time. Nuclear weapons began to decrease in use a couple of hundred years after your own time - kinetic bombardment from orbit became the preferred weapon of mass destruction. After all, kinetic bombardment makes none of the harmful radiation that might cause issues later. Nuclear charges, as they're now known, have some applications for industry and excavation. They're not used as weapons."
"How barbaric that would be," said Waiola.
Malcolm was scratching his beard, his expression slightly perturbed. "Anyway," he said, "Reactor sites like this one were responsible for providing power to the entire North American region under Mosmos Corporation. North America was one of the few regions not to ban nuclear power following the Anteristica negligence case."
"What was that?" I asked.
"Something you learn about very early when you get involved with the Earth Reclamation Project," said Malcolm, "It was one of the greatest nuclear disasters that the Earth ever faced. Anterisitica Energetics was an energy corporation that had a massive market share in Asia in the mid-2300s. To cut a long story short, there was a massive mismanagement of nuclear waste."
"It ended up in the groundwater," said Waiola, "And by the time anyone realised, it was far too late."
Malcolm nodded grimly, "One of the most densely populated areas on Earth now had entire water sources that could not be consumed. India in particular was very reliant upon hard-rock based aquifers. It caused a humanitarian crisis, causing mass emigration to safer areas - we're talking millions of people. The Indian government did rise to the occasion and was one of the fastest areas to develop desalination technology - but not quickly enough. The entire region was forever changed by the disaster, affected by both fear and the pressures of what had already occurred. It led to a complete ban on nuclear power technologies in surrounding nations - even though the issue was a result of human negligence, not the technologies themselves. As to how that ties into the Earth Reclamation Project, cleaning up the contaminated groundwater was one of the largest first initiatives of the project. The governments of the area had been trying to solve the problem for hundreds of years at that point, and had been making strides, but it was only thanks to the vast resources of the Consortium that the problem was finally resolved. A big win for the early Project!"
"Can you tell me more about the Earth Reclamation Project?" I said.
"Sure! Our remit is threefold - to maintain Earth's biosphere for the benefit of all citizens of Sol, to repair the damage that the development of our society has caused to the Earth, and to find and preserve Earth's cultural and historical heritage."
Waiola made a noise, sort of like a huffing sound.
"You may as well speak up, Waiola," said Malcolm, smiling, "I'm sure they'd like to hear your point of view too."
She seemed a little defensive at first, but began to speak up, "There are several schools of thought in the Earth Reclamation Project. What Malcolm just described are the general principles. I am of the opinion that the long-term objective of the Project should be to almost completely end human habitation of the planet - to restore the Earth to its natural state, without humans."
I didn't really know how to react to that. Thankfully Sarkona was curious too, and stepped in. "That's interesting," they said, "Could you explain why?"
"The Earth is unique," said Waiola with a hint of pride, "It is the only planet we know of in the whole universe that has the capacity to sustain and create complex life. From my perspective, it has done its job - we can create as many habitats as we like to live in, or we could even terraform Mars if we wanted to. I think we should leave the Earth to its own devices once we have reclaimed almost everything, free of our influence."
"I get the impression that you disagree with that, Malcolm," said Sarkona.
"You're right," said Malcolm, "I think this is our home, and we belong here. But I respect Waiola's view and those who agree with her. The two views are actually very useful - it means that both viewpoints keep each other in check. For example, many people may not be willing to abandon their homes on Earth but they are willing to make changes to ensure that living here has as little impact on local wildlife as possible. That does mean that the Project spends a lot of time working with Arbiters, though - to try and find a good balance between the two viewpoints."
"And you two still work together, despite your different viewpoints?" I said.
"Of course," said Waiola, "We both want to protect the Earth, after all."
I made a quick note on my tablet, that just said Arbiters? Different viewpoints?