Manhattan Reborn 1978

Houston, Texas.

West of downtown, Piney Point Village in the Memorial District, 19 Pinewood Avenue.

Breakfast time~

In the restaurant.

David, Mag, Sam and Carnes were eating the breakfast prepared by their butler Ackley while staring at the male host of NBC on TV and listening attentively to the morning news program he was reporting.

"Until the first core meltdown at Three Mile Island, nuclear power was considered the safest energy source."

"According to reports sent back by our reporters from the scene, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant leak was caused by a partial meltdown of the reactor, resulting in about 250 million Curies of radioactive gases such as xenon and krypton, and 16 Curies of radioactive iodine being released into the atmosphere."

"Pregnant women and children within 5 miles of the nuclear power plant were evacuated urgently, and all schools within 10 miles were closed. Large-scale marches and protests broke out in cities such as Philadelphia, Cowarden and Pittsburgh."

"In New York City, more than 20 people participated in the protest against the construction of a nuclear power plant. Only with the full deployment of the New York police, a large-scale stampede or riot of a serious nature was avoided."

"Yesterday was a normal trading day for the three major New York stock exchanges. Due to the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant leak, the stocks of more than 70 related listed companies closed down sharply, and the stock price fluctuations of more than 110 listed companies intensified."

"After the market closed, our reporter interviewed Mr. Robert Oriok, the new CEO of Goldman Sachs, a well-known investment bank on Wall Street."

"Mr. Robert Oriok said that the Three Mile Island nuclear leak will deal a heavy blow to the future development of the domestic nuclear energy industry, and the public's confidence in nuclear safety will also be severely undermined."

"Washington~"

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of Energy, issued an announcement at 16: yesterday afternoon by its spokesperson and vice chairman."

"The NRC will suspend the issuance of new nuclear power plant construction and operation licenses starting today. Several nuclear power plants under construction will also be completely shut down and await notice to start construction."

"The Three Mile Island nuclear leak has changed people's minds about the safety of nuclear power plants."

"Now, the myth has been shattered by the ruthless facts."

. . .

After the news was broadcast, Mag shrugged and smiled under the gaze of David and Sam.

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was created when Congress voted to pass the Energy Restructuring Act in 74. It is mainly responsible for supervising the use of nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, and nuclear safety."

"After the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was disbanded in 75, some of its staff joined the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), which was responsible for developing and supervising nuclear weapons, researching and promoting the commercial use of radioactive materials, and so on."

"In 77, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was formally established, and departments such as ERDA and NRC were placed under the jurisdiction of the DOE."

"But..." Mag said here, picked up a piece of pasta with the fork in his hand, smiled and shook his head at David and the other two.

"The NRC, which was established only a few years ago, was forced to disband as its predecessor, the AEC. It's not that simple!"

"As early as January 69, before President Nixon officially took office, Congress was very dissatisfied with the AEC's style of work."

"Because before the domestic nuclear power industry really took off, the ownership structure of the power industry was composed of four types of power companies: private power companies, power bureaus operated by the federal government, municipal public power companies, and rural power cooperatives. This began to take shape in the early 4s and has continued to this day."

"After several mergers, the number of private power companies in China has been reduced from more than 2000 to about 550, and their installed capacity and annual power generation account for 78% of the national total!"

"The six federally operated power bureaus (Tennessee Valley Authority, Bonville Power Bureau, Southwestern Power Bureau, Alaska Power Bureau, Southeastern Power Bureau and Western Power Bureau) and 6 municipal public power companies account for 1900% and 20% of the national total in terms of installed capacity and power generation, respectively."

"The last rural electricity cooperative was formed in 1936 when the Ministry of the Interior began to implement the Rural Store Program. After more than 40 years of continuous development, there are now more than 1000 of them."

"Before President Nixon took office, the nuclear power industry had begun to gradually seize the market with the full support of many members of Congress, reducing the proportion of thermal power in the domestic electricity production market to about 40% today. The proportion of oil-fired power, natural gas-fired power and hydropower, which is easier to develop, also decreased accordingly, allowing the electricity produced by nuclear power companies to enter the market smoothly."

During the pause in Mag's speech, Sam sighed to David with a look of deep feeling on his face.

"More than a decade ago, when I was preparing to go to high school, President Lyndon Johnson had just taken office."

"During that period, in addition to broadcasting breaking news and current affairs on TV, there were also many special documentaries about nuclear weapons, nuclear radiation, nuclear protection and nuclear safety, which were played in a continuous loop."

"My grandpa would complain to me every time he saw these shows"

"If a world nuclear war really breaks out, ordinary people like us won't be able to escape it at all. It would be a pain to just stay alive!"

"Haha" David and Mag looked at each other and smiled, as a response to Sam's complaint.

At this time, Kanes swallowed the food in his mouth, swept his eyes over the three people, and finally fell on Mag, and asked.

"After the UK began to develop its nuclear power industry, the demand for coal in the traditional thermal power industry gradually decreased, forcing many coal mine owners to transfer their industries at low prices."

“Is it the same here in the United States?”

"Yes!"

"Before the Three Mile Island nuclear leak, life was getting harder and harder for coal mining companies around the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States."

After Mager answered Carnes' question, you looked at David and said, "When President Nixon was preparing to run for the presidential election, he visited Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Virginia, West Virginia and other places to give speeches, and saw many coal miners suffering from pneumoconiosis with his own eyes."

David paused, blinked, and smiled, "So, President Nixon pushed Congress to pass a number of environmental protection bills during his first term?"

"Well, that is indeed a factor." The smile on Mag's lips gradually faded. He lowered his head and ate breakfast in silence.

David knew that Mag had recalled some unpleasant memories, so he turned to look at the butler Aclaid and said, "Turn up the volume of the TV."

"Okay!" Ackley walked to the TV and turned up the volume, allowing the news being reported by the male host on TV to echo in the restaurant again.

"According to our reporter from the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United Nations and its member states will hold an important meeting in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, in early May."

"The main topics of the meeting were to discuss issues such as trade, debt, capital allocation and the establishment of a new international economic order."

"Since the ASEAN-EC Cooperation Meeting was successfully concluded in Jakarta on the 28th of last month, European countries that have joined the EC have officially announced in recent days that they will completely abandon the British pound as the currency for trade and account settlement in the European region."

"According to reports from our correspondent in Geneva, the 99 countries participating in the Tokyo Round of negotiations of the General Agreement on Trade in Tariffs have reached a preliminary consensus on gradually reducing tariffs on industrial products."

"A negotiator told our reporter that it is expected that on April 4 or 11, negotiators from 12 countries will sign a preliminary agreement on tariff reduction in Geneva."

"The formal version of the agreement is expected to be signed before the end of this year and will officially come into effect next year."

"The 13 member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that they will hold the 5th meeting in Geneva in mid-May to discuss whether to implement a new dual oil price export price standard and increase the base price of crude oil exports."

"Governments around the world have responded differently."

"Recently, Margaret Thatcher, a female candidate for the British Prime Minister election, said in an interview with The Times that if OPEC decides to implement a new dual oil price standard and raise the base price of crude oil exports, it will deal a heavy blow to the economies of European crude oil importing countries and may even trigger an economic crisis more serious than the last oil crisis."

"At the same time, Mrs. Thatcher also said that the output of the UK's North Sea oil fields is expected to increase by about 11% by the end of this year, enough to meet its domestic demand."

"Haha." Kanes put down the cutlery, stared at the pictures flashing by on TV, and sneered.

"The UK, the Netherlands and Belgium, with their North Sea oil fields, are certainly not afraid of OPEC raising oil prices."

"However, the economic situation of Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Central European countries will definitely be worse after the oil price increase!"

"Yeah," David wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and nodded slightly.

"In March 74, all OPEC member countries except Libya ended their oil embargo on the United States."

"Since then, until the beginning of 78, although the nominal international oil price rose slightly, due to the multiple factors such as the rising inflation rate in the United States and European countries, the continuous depreciation of the dollar, and the gradual shrinking demand for crude oil, the real international crude oil price did not rise but fell, falling by about 20%."

"So, in order to raise the nominal price of international crude oil and prevent oil-producing countries from losing their oil export revenue due to the depreciation of the dollar and inflation, OPEC has decided to increase the nominal price of international crude oil and prevent oil-producing countries from losing their oil export revenue due to the depreciation of the dollar and inflation."

“In September 75, at the 9th OPEC meeting in Vienna, a consensus was reached for the first time to start implementing the dual pricing agreement.”

"In the agreement, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will increase their export oil prices by 5%, while the remaining member countries will increase their oil prices by about 10% in two stages."

"Last year, the domestic situation in Iran deteriorated rapidly. It was clear that Pahlavi II could no longer control the domestic situation, which led to a complete halt in Iran's crude oil exports in December last year, directly driving up international oil prices."

"On the other hand, other OPEC member countries all stopped thinking about increasing their own crude oil production immediately after Iran announced the suspension of crude oil exports before Christmas last year, and were ready to make a fortune from this oil crisis."

David turned to look at the butler Ackleyd, waved his hand to signal him to turn off the TV first, and said.

"From the two pieces of news just now, we can almost be sure that my prediction of the oil price trend last year was basically accurate!"

"The United Nations can no longer sit still, and neither can OPEC."

"I guess"

"They all choose to hold meetings on similar dates, but the topics and goals they discuss are completely opposite."

"The UN meeting will definitely require countries around the world to come up with policies and attitudes to deal with the impending oil crisis, and discuss how to reduce the negative impact of high oil prices."

"The upcoming 54th meeting of OPEC members will definitely discuss how to allocate crude oil export shares and renegotiate the dual oil price system so that everyone can make more money."

"All of this is based on the assumption that the United States and European countries will continue to restrict crude oil exports to bear countries, and that other crude oil exporting countries will not immediately increase production capacity and increase crude oil exports."