  We examine the quantum corrections to the static energy for Higgs winding
configurations in order to ascertain whether such corrections may stabilize
solitons in the standard model. We evaluate the effective action for winding
configurations in Weinberg-Salam theory without U(1)-gauge fields or fermions.
For a configuration whose size, $a \ll m^{-1}$ where $m = \max{m_W,m_H}$, m_W
is the W-mass, and m_H is the Higgs mass, the static energy goes like
$g^{-2}m_W^2a [1+b_0g^2\ln(1/ma)]^{c_0/b_0}$ in the semiclassical limit. Here g
is the SU(2)-gauge coupling constant and b_0, c_0 are positive numbers
determined by renormalization-group techniques. We discuss the limitations of
this result for extremely small configurations and conclude that quantum
fluctuations do not stabilize winding configurations where we have confidence
in SU(2)-Higgs as a renormalizable field theory.
