Genius

by Clare Nonhebel

CHAPTER 26

  'Can I go to the library?’ Eldred asked, coming in through the kitchen door and dropping his overnight case on the floor.

  'Hello Mum, how are you, I had a nice school trip, thank you,’ Mildred prompted him.

  'Yes, yes,’ Eldred agreed. 'Can I?’

  Mildred sighed. 'I suppose so. Don't be late for tea.’

  Eldred found Terry Smith using the microfiche reader in the reference library. He waved the package of information on nuclear power under Terry's nose. 'I need to know where I can get hold of the actual reports on these topics,’ he said. 'I've got a list here I made on the coach.’

  Terry took the list. 'Fuel reprocessing,’ he said. 'There's no shortage of reports on that at the moment: it's a political minefield. That's what you're getting into here, Eldred: politics. Science doesn't operate in isolation, you know.’

  'I only want the facts,’ said Eldred anxiously.

  'The facts?’ said Terry. 'Or the truth?’

  'Aren't they the same thing?’ said Eldred.

  Terry pushed his chair back and stood up. 'Let me show you something. I've taken a bit of an interest in this myself.’

  Eldred followed him to the main enquiry desk, where Terry retrieved a folder, then followed him to the computer terminal in the back office.

  'Am I allowed in here?’ he asked.

  'No,’ Terry said. 'Come and look at this.’ He selected the scroll bar and ran through documents on the screen. 'Official report on the value of nuclear fuel reprocessing, with particular emphasis on re­using uranium - right?’

  'Can I read that?’ asked Eldred, as Terry banished it from the screen.

  'In a minute,’ said Terry. Eldred could tell he was enjoying himself. 'Now look at this: official report by a leading environmentalists’ group on the dangers of reprocessing nuclear fuel, including a claim that reprocessed uranium is of minimal value and that recycling actually generates more toxic waste than if the material was simply disposed of- okay?’

  Eldred nodded. He wanted to read the documents for himself but he could see that, as was so often the case with adults, Terry wanted Eldred to receive his personal opinion before being given the facts to judge for himself.

  'And here,’ said Terry, rolling the screen again, 'are newspaper reports on the fierce debate between major industrial organizations - see? European and Japanese companies, mainly. Some say they are being forced to accept useless recycled fuel in return for using British reprocessing facilities; others say they welcome the arrangement and the fuel is valuable.’

  'So who is right?’ asked Eldred.

  'Ah well - right,’ said Terry. 'Everyone is right. It all depends on their point of view and their criteria. The same product can be useful to one group and rubbish to another. Or perhaps it's useful because of political reasons, rather than industrial ones. Perhaps the receiving country needs its population to believe its industrialists are being ecologically responsible by taking part in recycling rather than dumping - even if, in practice, recycling results in more waste being dumped and a worse hazard to public health.’

  'But the brochures I have here,’ Eldred said, 'say there are stringent checks to ensure that nuclear fuel doesn't pose any risk to health.’

  'So they say,’ Terry agreed. 'And some medical experts have said the same thing. Others have said just the opposite: that there are significantly higher rates of serious disease among people living in the vicinity of nuclear power stations or in coastal regions affected by the power stations’ outflow, and that it can't be sheer coincidence.’

  'But if they keep within the prescribed safe levels, how can it be harmful?’ Eldred enquired.

  'Whose prescribed safe levels?’ Terry countered. 'There are people who say that any level of radiation, over and above what's found naturally in the environment, is unsafe. Others say you could safely double the present rates of liquid and gaseous discharge, without causing any damage to people's health or to the planet. Take your pick.’

  'If you only asked the real experts ...’ Eldred began.

  'They're all experts,’ Terry said, 'in their own opinions, anyway. You can have as many theories as you have experts, Eldred. And even when a theory is proved to be true and backed up with genuine scientific evidence, there's nothing to prevent other scientists - or even the same ones, a few years later - from proving the exact opposite and backing up their findings with impeccable evidence as well.’

  'So how does anyone arrive at the truth?’ Eldred asked.

  Terry shrugged. 'Lucky dip,’ he said. 'Whichever theory you like the sound of, you can always find some professional to prove it for you.’

  'And some other professional to disprove it?’ Eldred said.

  'Exactly,’ Terry said.

  'Does that mean all the theories are true, then, or none of them?’ said Eldred. 'Or are there different kinds of truth?’

  'I suppose there can only be one truth,’ Terry said. 'Maybe just a million ways of looking at it.’

  'But are all the ways of looking at it true or can only one of them be true?’ Eldred pursued.

  'Now that,’ Terry said, 'is a question that has kept philosophers busy since Moses was a boy, and I doubt you're going to be the one to solve it, Eldred. Mind you,’ he added, ruffling Eldred's hair, 'I could be wrong about that.’

  'I have to go home now,’ Eldred said. 'Can I read those reports first?’

  'Sure,’ Terry said. 'Give me a shout when you've finished.’

  Eldred rolled the documents across the screen, reading quickly. Within a few minutes, he was back at the enquiry desk.

  'Can't find something?’ said Terry.

  'No,’ said Eldred. 'I've finished. Thanks for your help, Terry. See you.’

  Terry pursed his lips into a silent whistle. As Eldred reached the door of the reference section, Terry called him back. 'Eldred,’ he said

  'Yes?’

  Terry beckoned him close and said in a near-whisper, 'You won't forget what I said about the truth being more than mere facts, will you?’

  'No,’ said Eldred. 'Why?’

  'The truth about a person, for instance,’ said Terry, still in the same low voice. 'I mean, you could know facts about someone but even if those facts are true, the person is sure to be more than the sum total of those facts, if you know what I mean?’

  'I don't think I do,’ Eldred admitted.

  'Keep it in mind,’ said Terry. 'It might make more sense to you later on, okay?’

  'Okay,’ Eldred agreed. He would have to run home now. If he was late for tea, his mother would be annoyed and might curtail his solitary trips to the library.

  As he left the building, two uniformed police officers were walking up the steps. Eldred wondered briefly what they wanted. A library seemed the last place anyone would expect to find disturbances of the peace.