“Radical ecological groups declared that the root cause of the growing global violence was an unequal distribution of wealth and an excessive consumption of resources by the industrialized nations. The most hideous example of this, they argued, was the plan to build protective dikes around the boroughs of New York City at a cost of more than $1 trillion.”

“Despite numerous protests, boycotts, and even some minor assaults on corporate and government targets nothing much changed. As a result, an eco-terrorist cell based in the United States decided to take radical action.”

“Their planning was meticulous. In October, 2037, on a day when the winds were blowing strongly from the southwest, a suicide pilot crashed a small aircraft loaded with explosives into a radioactive waste storage facility that was located adjacent to a nuclear power plant in New Jersey.”

“The damage to the facility was significant and some employees suffered serious injuries but there was no immediate danger that radioactive material would be released. However, within minutes of the crash an ambulance showed up. Because of the chaotic situation at the site the ambulance was allowed access to the very center of the complex. But this ambulance was not there to save lives. Instead, it was packed from floor to ceiling with high explosives. When it was detonated the explosion literally vaporized most of the radioactive waste facility. It also ruptured the containment dome of the nuclear reactor. Within seconds billions of highly radioactive dust particles and gas molecules were released into the atmosphere and were spread north and east over New York and Long Island. Before the end of the day more than 500,000 people had died of acute radiation sickness and the Global Science Federation had ordered the evacuation of the greater New York metropolitan area resulting in the displacement of 27 million people.”

“It was determined that New York would not be safe for human habitation for at least 30 years and, as a result, it was decided that the city would be abandoned. Low lying areas would be allowed to flood. The eco-terrorists had achieved their goal.”

“A year after the attack 1.3 million people had died of radiation sickness and many millions more were suffering from long-term health issues. The debates regarding continued exploitation of nuclear power raged on but the Global Council was still unwilling to take action. Instead, billions of dollars were poured into new security measures at the more than 2,000 nuclear plants around the world, putting even more strain on the global economy.”

A small boy at the front of the tour group had his hand up. Eila was grateful for the interruption. She felt she had been drifting into lecture mode. She leaned over to read his name tag.

“Yes Leonid, you have a question?”

The boy took a step forward.

“So the government didn’t decide to stop using nuclear power because of the terrorist attacks?”

“Well, you pay attention, don’t you. And you are right. The terrorist attack did not lead immediately to that decision. But it did come to epitomize the intense anger and fear that many people have felt since the first nuclear power plants had come on-line in the 1950’s.”

“The opposition to nuclear power has always been based upon safety concerns and the complete lack of any plan to deal with the radioactive waste produced by these plants, which is toxic to humans for thousands of years. The nuclear waste issue itself has generated violent protests and several bombings of nuclear facilities, including an attack on this facility that you are visiting. In 1977 several bombs were detonated here during initial construction of the facility, damaging the reactor pressure vessel. As a result all work on the plant was stopped and did not resume for more than 40 years.”

Eila noticed that Leonid had his hand up again.

“Yes, Leonid?”

“So why did the government finally decide to stop using nuclear power?”

Eila took a moment to respond. She really had to find a way to shorten this story in the future.

“Yes, Leonid, I guess I really need to get to the point”

“It was 7 years after the terrorist attack, at a nuclear plant at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains just east of Fresno, California that the fate of nuclear power was finally sealed. A very large tropical depression had been pouring rain onto the area for more than a week. Finally, on June 12, 2044 a minor earth tremor triggered an enormous landslide, bringing more than 100 million metric tons of rock down onto the King’s Canyon nuclear plant and associated radioactive waste storage facility.”

“The 47 employees on site were killed outright. Enormous amounts of radioactive waste were released into the King’s River. Being at the head of the watershed for the Great Central Valley the result was radioactive poisoning of the entire watershed rendering almost all of the drinking water, and more importantly all of the fruits and vegetables grown in the area, unfit for human consumption. The overnight elimination of one of the most important sources of fresh produce in North America resulted in a major food crisis. The public, not only in the US but around the world, erupted in demonstrations and protests. Finally, the Global Council had to take action.”

“On July 1, 2045 the Nuclear Decommissioning and Subtropical Migration Law was passed. It mandated that all nuclear power generation facilities throughout the world would have to be decommissioned by 2060. In order to deal with the loss of more than half of the electrical power generation capacity in the world it was decreed that all the citizens of the planet would have to share global energy resources roughly equally. This would require the forced migration of huge numbers of people from the northern areas of the planet to the south. The use of air conditioning was also banned by this law.”