Originally Posted by
madrox83
To provide and answer for someone's reply a few spots back, the Nova Force wasn't killing Rich. DnA explained that when Rich was stripped of the Nova Force fully back when Worldmind was corrupted, scientists discovered he was dying. Due to having the full force for so long his body had changed in an irreparable way. While Rich didn't have to have the full force at all times he did have to have some at all times or risk dying.
This was the arc where the energy form of Quasar gave him the Quantum bands which allowed him to live without the Nova Force for a bit longer before he became Nova Prime again. While Sam is probably a decent Nova (though I don't read the book), the universe still needs The Nova Prime as Rich is more than just a Nova Prime.