Text of letter dated January 21, 1976, from J. Malvern Benjamin to Robert F. Cotellessa

Abstract

Energy stands among the foremost issues at the interface of technology and society, and has therefore been a major concern of the IEEE Committee on Social Implications of Technology. The particular field of nuclear energy is undoubtedly the most complex of the immediate energy issues that we face; it demands the utmost objective analysis of its technological, environmental, and societal facets. That demand has caused the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, at governmental request, to initiate a major new study of nuclear energy and the alternatives. In discussing that study, Academy of Sciences president, Philip Handler said, "We are aware of the polarization of attitudes on nuclear energy among the public and in the scientific community as well" (Science, 190, 961, 1975).