Entry for 11th September, 2008 - Nuclear Fission

Generally, I am very pessimistic about the state of the planet. I tend to think that, when virtually every scientist in the world is saying that our atmosphere is going to boil off by a week on Tuesday, we may be in for a bit of a warm spell. I read gloomy reports of global warming and feel immediately guilty that my carbon footprint is stamping all over my children's' future. I am a bad person who is probably responsible for the imminent disappearance of Norfolk beneath the waves of the North Sea.
However, I saw a really optimistic episode of Horizon tonight about nuclear fission which has made me feel a bit brighter. Obviously, I had to watch it when my Significant Other was sleeping, since she is of the view that documentaries are the work of the devil. But I managed to sneak it on in between the Eastenders omnibus and an episode of Sex and the City which I am fairly sure was called "Four Hatchetfaced Harridans Slag off Men".
Anyway. Nuclear fission. I don't really understand it, but it seems to go something like this - throw atoms together very fast, they stick together, and then - by magic as far as I can tell - they give off enough electricity to save humanity, and let us all have fairy lamps on our Christmas trees forever. Guilt free. I am a fan. I support fission.