It was a Simple Idea that Manifested Globally

I saw this article in the New York Times a couple of days ago, January 28, 2014.  Photo: A shipment of low-enriched uranium, equivalent to 10,000 warheads, arrived at an American plant in 2005. credit: USEC

Thomas Neff, a physicist at MIT was thinking about the weapons grade nuclear material that the Soviet Union possessed after the end of the Cold War.

This enormous and very dangerous stockpile could end up anywhere. The Soviet Union was coming apart. Thousands of nuclear weapons were stored and guarded in a less than optimal way.

It was his intention to recycle these weapons and convert them into electrical generation. Dr. Neff had little name recognition and was a political novice with very little experience in arms-control. Regardless, Dr. Neff’s idea was a solution eventually embraced by politicians and scientists eager to diffuse this very serious problem for the world.

In 1991, he attended a meeting of nuclear experts in Washington that was also attended by a Soviet delegation. The agenda was demilitarization. During a break he approached a member of the Soviet delegation, Mr. Mikhailov on his own. He asked Mr. Mikhailov if he would consider selling the uranium in those Soviet weapons to the U.S. It appeared to be an agreeable idea.

The doctor went further and wrote an op-ed article in the New York Times that was published five days later. The idea moved forward.

As it turns out, Dr. Neff ended up working for decades on the project that fulfilled his idea: Megatons to Megawatts. The United States bought the weapons-grade material and converted it for electrical generation.

Last month, the final shipment of uranium from Russia was shipped to the United States. In 20 years, this program turned 20,000 Russian warheads into so much electricity it has illuminated one in 10 American lightbulbs. It’s calculated that the total electric power could illuminate the entire United States with its 20,000 cities and 115 million households for about two years. Or, it would be the equivalent of powering Washington DC for 185 years.

One third of the atomic bomb fuel on the planet was eliminated. The potential of atomic terrorism was much reduced and the project produced much-needed cash for the Soviet Union, helping to further stabilize the country.

Dr. Neff’s simple idea became 20 years work. It was incredibly complicated but he carried his intention through to the end. One person’s idea accomplished more than just about anyone else has done with nuclear disarmament. He estimates that he traveled to Russia 20 times to work on the original deal and its amendments.

The lesson of the story he said, ”is that private citizens can actually do something.”
Your thoughts have unlimited potential

This story is a staggering example of how far a simple thought can go and what a difference it can make in the world. Early on, one man and then a very small group made it their task, their intention to make it a reality. Thought works this way. Everything around you was thought first. Your plastic pen was oil in the ground and it took thousands of man-hours to bring it to your home.

Make a wish, have an idea and keep it in your consciousness. Watch for the opportunities to bring it to reality.

Do good things for yourself. Perhaps you want to create something that serves others as well.
Make history if you like.

Ken