It's nice to have a source of materials at my disposal, and I'm pleased
to be able to make as much use of us as I can. Still, this month's column's
date tie-in is a good example of what happens when you push things a bit
too far. It was on April 26, 1986 that the Soviet nuclear reactor in
Chernobyl
exploded (or imploded, or did something very dangerous). The Soviets weren't
exactly making use of nuclear power in the way that I make use of the ideas
raised here, but perhaps I can still allow myself, with a squint and a
bit of a squirm, a bit of an analogy. Safety measures at the Cernobyl plant
were a bit too lax, as perhaps one might expect them to be. After all,
nothing had yet happened there, so what was there to worry about! If I'm
not careful, I may find myself in a situation of recycling my materials
over and over until all that I'm really left with is trash. It's a forced
metaphor, and the dangers may be considerably less, but it's a problem
just the same.