Would the U.S./the world be better off if we never discovered nuclear fission?

[Vesayen]

If we never discovered fission it implies we never discovered fussion or any of the other technologies derived from nuclear fission.

Downsides, as I see it:

MASSIVE casualties for both the U.S. and the Japanese, possibly extending world war 2 for another year and a half.

If we were not too stupid as to refuse to put nukes into space, nuclear power can be a TREMENDOUSLY efficient form of space travel... build a massive sail of lunar soil or out of a strong synthetic material, attach it so a vehicle, so the vehicle is in the concave part... launch a nuke from the vehicle to the sail, detonate....... *ENORMOUS* speed is produced, tremendously energy efficient-the best form of space travel possible with todays technology.

Nuclear energy, if we utilized it properly, could proboably supply the worlds non-transportation energy needs till we find out how to beat entropy.

The upside: There can't be a nuclear armageddon.

Major American cities can't be nuked by terrorists, or our other enemies, which is seeming increasingly likley as time progresses.

[Lancer]

The continental euros would all be speaking commie right now.

[Vesayen]

Are you so sure of that? The soviet military was in no condition after ww2 ended.... they also had enough trouble managing the land they already aquired.

[Lancer]

Later, after Vietnam, they could have taken europe.

[Vesayen]

edit: I posted something completley historically untrue, deleted it with this edit.

[Az]

no, because without fission, we aren't going to get fusion.

[MrFun]

Re: Would the U.S./the world be better off if we never discovered nuclear fission?

Originally posted by Vesayen
If we never discovered fission it implies we never discovered fussion or any of the other technologies derived from nuclear fission.

This is absurd even as a speculative, hypothetical setup because if there is something out there to be discovered, we WILL discover it at SOME point in time.

[Jon Miller]

umm..


do you realise how far back science would be without the understanding that led to the atomic bomb...

Imean, I bet oiur computer tech would not be near as advanced.......

JM

[Dr Strangelove]

One could suppose that in some alternate universe there was an Earth without sufficient Uranium.

Without nuclear weapons I believe that there might have been a WW3. With non-nuclear 1970s or 1980s weapons the death toll would have been horrific, possibly worse than WW2.

[BlackCat]

If the world was ruled by a religious dictatorship where scientific research was strictly forbidden, invention of nuclear power could be prevented, but I'm not sure that I would like to live such a place - though, probably wouldn't know better.

[Zulu Elephant]

There was a episode of Sliders that dealt with this. They had to invent atomic weapons to stop an asteroid that was going to hit the earth.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Without nuclear weapons I believe that there might have been a WW3. With non-nuclear 1970s or 1980s weapons the death toll would have been horrific, possibly worse than WW2.

Almost certainly far worse than anyone ever dreamed during WWII.

[Lancer]

Eh, not so sure. The europeans were loath to defend themselves. If one side has almost all the force, the casualties shouldn't be too high.

[LDiCesare]

Without nuclear fission and the bomb, the Cold War wouldn't have existed as we know it. Russia could have taken some decisive moves like invading Germany, which relied solely on American (and NATO) defense. Probably not in '45, though.
Russia could also have lended a hand in defeating Japan, and maybe imposed some sort of division of Japan, like Hokkaido being commie and the southern islands capitalist.
But then, it's quite possible that chemical or biological weapons would have been used against Japan instead of nukes, causing similar damage to the population.

There would also have been no Chernobyl, and the pollution today would probably be higher due to more electricity being generated through oil/carbon, though we wouldn't have to fear the long-term pollution from radioactive isotopes.

[Kuciwalker]

Re: Would the U.S./the world be better off if we never discovered nuclear fission?

No.