In 1943, physicist Leo Szilard suggested that it might be possible to build a nuclear reactor that would create or breed fuel, producing an inexhaustible supply of energy. Although the federal government failed to fulfill the promise of the breeder reactor, its forty-year quest offers valuable lessons on the hazards of mixing government and technological development.

William R. Beaver is a professor of social science at Robert Morris University.
Economic PolicyEconomyEnergyEnergy and the EnvironmentEnvironmental Law and RegulationNatural Resources
Other Independent Review articles by William R. Beaver
Fall 2017 Campus Sexual Assault: What We Know and What We Don’t
Fall 2016 Rape Culture Hysteria: Fixing the Damage Done to Men and Women
Winter 2010/11 The Failed Promise of Nuclear Power
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