The many public benefits of the use of nuclear technologies are severely constrained. Because of the value of nuclear technologies to solving major societal problems, there is a need to re-evaluate their role in today's world. The Center for Nuclear Technology and Society has been formed under the auspices of the Nuclear Engineering Program at WPI, the nation's third oldest independent university of science and technology. Growing environmental crises have-potential negative effects on ecosystems and on human health and welfare. Escalating use of oil and coal can lead to international conflicts over oil supplies and transnational environmental damage.
Nuclear technologies are vital to a sustainable, growing, prosperous world economy.
Technology assessments and cost-benefit analyses have confirmed their value. But they are constrained by public policy at a large cost and small benefit to society. Nuclear technologies are proven in medicine and medical research, but they are constrained by costly controls of limited benefit. Such constraints frequently lead to the use of more costly and less effective altematives. New standards for nuclear technologies in medical research and development, biotechnology, and genetic engineering, and in medical applications, can benefit public health, at low cost.