Was Hamilton Pro-Nuclear? Independence Day and Advocacy

Lin-Manuel Miranda in his musical Hamilton
Photo by Steve Jurvetson, Wikimedia

Hanging Together

We all know the quote from Benjamin Franklin.  At the signing of the Declaration of Independence he said,  "We must all hang together or, most assuredly, we will all hang separately."

That's the short version, isn't it?   We must all hang together, so we do all hang together, and then we win.

In my advocacy blog post today,  Was Hamilton Pro-Nuclear? A Post for Independence Day, I look at the more complex version.  The musical Hamilton tells the tale of the American Revolution.  The founding fathers were not all that agreeable with each other:  The musical ends after Burr shoots Hamilton.  That is truly being disagreeable!

Hanging together is hard work.

Real movements are complicated

In my essay, I note that astro-turf has a carefully crafted message, but real movements are complicated.  The Revolution was complicated.  Similarly, the current pro-nuclear movement has factions, disagreements on methods, and even disagreements on goals. Just as the situations described in Hamilton.

I am proud to be part of the widespread, messy, pro-nuclear movement.   It has factions.  It is real.

I hope you will read my post about Hamilton and the Nuclear Movement at my advocacy blog.  Here are the concluding paragraphs:

As Hamilton says, people do not know how we will be remembered. In particular, we don’t know how the pro-nuclear advocates of this generation will be remembered.

But I hope we will be remembered in clean skies and moderate climates and non-acidic seas.

Hail to the pro-nuclear advocates of this generation!

The Fourth and France

Last night I watched a fabulous fireworks display sponsored by our town: Hartford, Vermont. I happen to live across the street from Kilowatt Park, a park and playing field next to the Connecticut River and just upstream of Wilder Dam. The "Kilowatt" name comes from the presence of Wilder Dam, and the park is there because it is a federally-mandated low-use area (no permanent buildings) near the dam. There's a soccer field, hiking trails, picnic benches. And once a year, the town sponsors a fireworks display with rockets shot above the river. Which is just about as safe as pyrotechnics can be.

After it grew dark, the local bands stopped playing and a solitary man stepped up to the microphone. He began singing The Star Spangled Banner. As he sang rockets red glare...whoosh. The first rocket shot up in the sky, and thousands of glowing sparks fell. We had perfect weather, and this was a glorious display. (Hey Tad, if you are reading this: Wow, you did a great job!)

But What About the French?

On the Fourth, we remember the American founding fathers and the founding mothers and the Declaration of Independence. We tend to downplay the French connection. The French fought side by side with the American revolutionaries, sending battalions and ships. Lafayette did not come alone. The French government supported the Revolutionaries with their Navy, supplies and troops.

Well, yeah, the French government helped us because the "Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend" but the bottom line is...they helped us. Most of the French soldiers in America were volunteers, inspired by ideals of democracy and freedom. I can't get a firm count on this, but there were at least 12,000 French ground troops on our side, as I read various Internet articles. We'd still be singing God Save the Queen if it weren't for the French.

Aside: The second verse of God Save the Queen is just plain ridiculous IMHO. "Frustrate their knavish tricks." That's a prayer? That's part of a national anthem? No disrespect to Great Britain or Canada or anybody. But have you ever thought about dropping that second verse? End Aside.

We were helped by the French way back when, and we still have a lot to learn from the French.


Fuel Recycling

For example, the French recycle nuclear fuel. They have been doing it since 1976, and a group of us visited their facility last month. Steve Aplin of Canadian Energy Issues has an excellent post about our visit.

Therefore, in honor of Independence Day, and in honor of the friendship between America and France, I am sharing a ten minute video about fuel recycling at La Hague.

Happy Independence Day to all Americans!

And while we are at it: Vive La France!

Carnival of Nuclear Energy

The Eighth Carnival of Nuclear Energy is up at Next Big Future. The Glorious Fourth is a great day for a Carnival. Stop over and enjoy yourself.