Word: fissionable
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SIMILARLY, new information has shaken formerly well established theories about the origin of the moon itself. Before Apollo II there were three main theories of lunar origin: the fission theory envisioning the moon once being part of the earth and breaking away, the capture theory which said the earth's gravity captured the moon as a satellite, and the accretion theory which maintained that the moon was formed by a ring of matter around the earth, similar to Saturn's rings, accumulating to form one body. These theories can now be tested by evidence from the moon itself...
Then there are some composition and isotope ratio differences between lunar and terrestrial basalts which seem to indicate that the moon and earth could never be one body, thus disproving the fission theory. However, there is some controversey about the importance of the differences between terrestrial and lunar rocks...
Although the fission theory is not completely ruled out, most lunar researchers seem to favor the accretion theory because it explains the moon's origin with fewest inconsistencies...
...reactors built underground as in Sweden and Switzerland? This has been advocated for many years by Dr. Edward Teller (proverbial father of the H-bomb) and others in this country. The reason is simple. As has been proven in Britain, which generates four times as much electricity from fission as the U. S., nuclear reactors are simply more costly than other forms of power. Underground construction would be prohibitively expensive...
What about other sources of power? When many estimate that there are over 300 years of fossil fuels left-coal, shale, oil, natural gas-and that geothermal, fusion, solar, magneto-hydrodynamics and other clean power technologies are just around the corner, why the rush for fission? These other power technologies haven't been given a chance. The AEC spends 83 per cent of its research dollar on fission power. Con Edison spent more on advertising last year than on all research. In fact, over ten times as much is spent on advertising for electricity as is spent on research into...