ABSTRACT
About the time that nuclear-generated electricity became viable in the United States in the 1960s, the modern environmental movement was on the rise. One did not offset the other, but their futures were intertwined. Civilian nuclear power emerged in the 1950s as the most promising aspect of Atoms for Peace. But, during the late 1950s and early 1960s using nuclear power to generate electricity was still novel and not well established.1 In addition, civilian nuclear power was a technology that competed with the federal government’s passionate interest in nuclear weapons. The intensification of the Cold War at that time was not about to change the equation very much. Yet the signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963 and its diplomatic aftermath had positive impacts on the civilian power program.2 In such a setting there was some promise for commercial nuclear power, although it proved inhospitable in all but a very few countries. Promotion of newly constructed reactors and accompanying power plants wriggled through the maze of constraints as the emerging energy source made strides by the late 1960s. The upward trajectory did not last long. The forces against nuclear power were much too strong, especially economic woes, environmental challenges, and an energy crisis. Dramatic accidents, especially Three Mile Island (1979), also derailed its momentum. From high expectations to utter dejection, the 1960s and 1970s were erratic years for civilian nuclear power.
