Part 1 of 3.

"Why Nuclear Power Should Be Defended"
This speech was given in Los Angeles on March 15, 1980.

Dr. Beckmann's newsletter archives are available at:
http://www.accesstoenergy.com/

Since September 1993, AtE has been written by Arthur B. Robinson.

Petr Beckmann was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1924 where he lived until he had to flee the Nazis in 1939. During WW-II he served in the Czech squadron of the RAF, 1942-45. After the war he returned to Prague, received a B.Sc. In Electrical Engineering in 1949, a Ph.D. in 1955, and also a D.Sc. From the Czech Academy of Sciences in 1962.

In 1963 he was invited to the University of Colorado as a visiting Professor and refused to return behind the Iron Curtain. He became a U.S. citizen, married Irene Muller in 1965, and was appointed a Full Professor of Electrical Engineering.

In 1981, he took early retirement with Emeritus status, in order to devote himself fully to the defense of science, technology and free enterprise through his monthly newsletter Access to Energy. He founded the Golem Press in 1967, publishing more than 9 books. These included "The History of Pi", "Einstein Plus 2", and "The Health Hazards of Not Going Nuclear". He wrote more than 60 scientific papers and 8 technical books. Dr. Beckmann spoke at I.S.I.L.'s San Francisco Conference in 1990 where he received a standing ovation for his speech in which he attacked "sham environmentalists".