Nuclear Technology's Numerous Uses: We should Not Let Unjustified Fear of Radiation Create Obstacles to Continued Progress and Benefits‪.‬

In his 1953 "Atoms for Peace" address to the United Nations, President Dwight D. Eisenhower challenged scientists and engineers to harness the atom for humanitarian purposes in medicine, agriculture, and other non-power aspects of direct benefit. Half a century later, nuclear technology has had astounding economic and job impacts in the United States (see Table 1). The totals in terms of dollars and jobs are impressive, but perhaps the biggest revelation is that the atom has a substantially larger impact outside the nuclear power sector than in it. Perhaps the most significant success story over the past half-century in harnessing radiation to serve modern humanity is found in the field of medicine.