Unveiling the Future: The Untold Potential of Nuclear-Powered Underwater Cities

One of the greatest travesties humanity has ever inflicted on itself was to take the gift of nuclear energy and squander it on warfare.

Instead of embracing this gift, human society has somehow decided that it's better to burn coal and oil, or to litter the countryside with windmills and solar panels, destroying wildlife habitats and perhaps far worse... ruining my holiday pictures.

It could all be so different. All this environmental alarmism is hurting us all, and we are denying ourselves solutions that could trivialise the whole climate change situation.

In the future we could use advanced nuclear technology to live like the Gungans from Star Wars and build deep sea cities. The cities would be designed to be self-sustaining, using a combination of advanced technology and the natural resources of the ocean.

New World Fusion

The first requirement would be nuclear fusion, that much is obvious, and to produce nuclear fusion we need a fusion reactor. There are several types of fusion reactor, but the most promising is called a tokamak. Tokamaks use strong magnetic fields to confine and control the plasma in which fusion takes place.

And lucky for us, one is being built in France as part of the ITER project.

Fusion reactors produce electricity from heat and steam. The steam is then driven through turbines to produce electricity.

Now we have electricity to power and heat our underwater city. This means we also have enough energy to power an artificial sun. This is done by bundling together a huge array of LED lights, mirrors and lenses to spread the light over a large area, to mimick the natural sunlight.

As you might expect, all this power might be a bit much for a human, but not for an AI. Making split-second decisions and adjustments across the entire ecosystem means that disasters like Chernobyl are almost impossible. Even that disaster could have been avoided if humans had acted a little faster. Now imagine the power of an AI with a fusion reactor and a quantum computer. You're in more than safe hands.

With power and light taken care of, the next piece of the puzzle is food. For that, we turn to aquaponics. Aquaponics is a system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or shrimp in tanks) with hydroponics (growing plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In this underwater city, this system would be ideal. Fish and other sea life would provide the nutrients for the plants to grow, and the plants in turn would purify the water for the fish. These could be grown in vertically stacked layers to make the best use of space.

Then there is the question of water. There's plenty of water in the ocean, but it's not drinkable. But with the energy provided by the fusion reactor, large-scale desalination will become a reality. Using reverse osmosis, seawater can be purified and made safe for drinking and other uses. Any waste from this process can be treated and safely returned to the ocean, minimising the impact on the environment.

Crisis? Solution.

The current approach to tackling climate change appears to be ineffective. And what is worse, the measures that have been taken, demonstrate that the current generation of leaders prefers to micromanage rather than take a hands-off approach.

So instead of micromanaging nature, how about we give it a break from us?

By moving underwater, we would reduce our impact on land and allow nature to recover and thrive. This could help reduce the effects of climate change and give our planet a chance to heal. It would also help tackle the housing crisis. The ocean covers over 70% of our planet's surface, so there is plenty of room for expansion. And because it's in a controlled environment, it means that if there ever was a chain reaction of volcanic eruptions, we wouldn't be affected by the dimmed sunlight and impending ice age. Nor would we be affected by the ash that could suffocate us.

Economic Impact

Considering the extensive coastlines of Japan, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines, we could see a disruption in the economic food chain. Which could also further establish industrial high-tech nations as key contributors.

This could be a huge relief, and a great opportunity for new resource exploitation, in view of Japan's large population. If Japan were to invest in this, it may well become a dominant superpower.

Similar ambitions can be expected from China and the US, although China's larger workforce may give it a head start.

Life Under The Sea

You wake up and look out the window to see a school of colourful fish and some manta rays passing by. You get up and make yourself a cup of caffeinated seaweed tea.

While flying cars have yet to be invented above ground, here in Neptune City you can take your own nuclear-powered personal submarine pod to work as you traverse the bioluminescent streets below. And if you wonder if it's like that submarine that just imploded... . Yes, exactly like that one!

After you got some work done, you decide to have lunch. It's your favourite: clam stew. Your AI tells you that you haven't met your nutritional requirements and recommends that you make another seaweed salad to keep you working at peak efficiency.

After a long day's work, you return home and decide to hang out with your friends in the Community Dome, a large transparent structure in the centre of town. After dinner, you watch a holographic film before heading home to rest.

Conclusion

This underwater city is just one of the many visions that could become reality if we choose to harness the power of nuclear energy.

But it's up to us, as a collective society, to decide which path to take. Do we continue on our current path, or do we dare to dream and make these visions a reality?

Here at Aeon Cortex, we believe in exploring these possibilities and sparking intellectual conversations about our future. If you share our curiosity and desire to delve into topics such as history, philosophy, futurism and AI, we invite you to join us on this journey.

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