In an Oct. 16 article titled "Former Pa. governor speaks about nuclear energy," former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge remarked about how bad his physics grades were but that he was qualified to speak about energy because of his experience as governor and now as a CEO.

I think even first-year Penn State students would question those credentials; I know that I do. Ridge claimed that nuclear power is "as green as green can be" and can be safely disposed of. He further stated that America needs to get past the fear associated with nuclear power and confusing it with nuclear weapons and terrorists.

Here's what I know based on having studied nuclear power and worked at one of the national labs associated with the nuclear industry. Nuclear power does generate less carbon dioxide than coal. Calling that "green as can be" or "environmentally friendly" is like calling light cigarettes as "healthy as can be" or "breathing friendly." If nuclear waste can be safely disposed of, you would think we would be doing it, which we aren't. Just saying it does not make it so.

And lastly, nuclear power emerged from the nuclear weapons industry and is inherently tied to it. We do need healthy forms of energy for a sustainable future; nuclear is not one of them unless you count sunlight that we receive from the fusion reactions in the sun, safely situated 93 million miles away.

Andy Lau

associate professor of engineering