[ RadSafe ] Nuclear Power Plants and A Citizen's Right To Know

Tue Oct 21 05:10:27 CDT 2008

Latest Cathy Garger posting to widely read OpEdNews - note how she weaves in
Depleted Uranium and relies on eminent scientist Rosalie Bertell.  I
encourage Radsafers to join OpEdNews so that they can comment.  As long as
you do not call Garger nuts or a liar, you can probably carefully tear apart
her illogic.  Her rantings have been appearing unchallenged for months as
have recent ones by Bob Nichols (together, they might have a thimble full of
knowledge) and Steve Becknow from Canada.  All of them pretend to be
something greater than they are.  They have to impress the reader with their
"expertise".

Roger Helbig

It is truly amazing that Garger can specialize in non-existent uranium
weapons (her partner Nichols claims that there are also low enriched
uranium, whatever that is and why would you fire it at a target) and natural
uranium weapons.  The use the term "weapons" so that they can claim that DU
is a prohibited "weapon of mass destruction"

October 20, 2008 at 12:09:36      

 <http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=10229> Nuclear Power
Plants and A Citizen's Right To Know

Diary Entry by Cathy <http://www.opednews.com/author/author4657.html>
Garger

| 

If a nuclear power plant was emitting dangerous poison gasses into your
neighbor's air, water, and soil (food supply) do they have the right to
know? 

::::::::

Once upon a time, ohh till I was about 46 or so, I thought that nuclear
power plants had a magical way of keeping all of their radiation within an
enclosed structure. Never for a moment did I ever imagine these structures
leaked, nor, even worse, that radioactive releases - toxic, chemical poison
gasses - were expelled out into the air (on purpose!) on a regular basis.

When I found out about this, I felt really stupid, as if I was the only one
in the world who did not know. I mean, I had known about the damages caused
to health and environment by Uranium oxides when Uranium is fired from
military weapons (some call this Depleted Uranium). Yet, on the nuclear
power issue? I blush when I admit to you I was totally ignorant about
Uranium gasses released by nuclear power plants in normal, everyday, routine
operations.

Talk about feeling ignorant! I was really afraid to admit this, at first.
Then I read something (see link below), written by prominent epidemiologist,
Dr. Bertell, who's been an expert witness before the US Congress and the
United Nations and has done intensive study on the effects of chemicals on
human health.

As Dr. Bertell admitted, "I was not really concerned about nuclear power
plants. I thought they were totally contained, unless they had an accident."

And suddenly I felt a bit better when I realized I'm not the only one who
did not know the truth about nuclear power plant emissions into air, soil,
and water. And if this scientist did not know and I did not know, and many
others who I've personally spoken to do not know, how then can we assume
that everyone else knows about this hidden danger to our health and
environment? The answer is, we can't.

And for all those concerned about the hype we've been fed in the past couple
of years about climate change that not-so-coincidentally corresponds with
the push for the 34 new nuke reactor applications (or 100, if McCain gets to
have his way with us)? Here's a good quote:

"Promoting nuclear technology raises false expectations, usurps money better
spent in energy efficiency, and substitutes emissions of radionuclides* for
emissions of carbon dioxide. The intelligent customer will not substitute
one pollution for another, but will rather eliminate both by more efficient
energy use."

>From "Radioactivity: No Immediate Danger?" by Sister Dr. Rosalie Bertell at:

www.ratical.org/radiation/inetSeries/NID.html 

So here's a question I have asked myself and now ask you to consider, too.
If we know that something is harming our fellow citizens that our government
does not want people to know... don't we have a moral obligation to tell
them?

We must each allow our conscience to be our guide. I, for one, believe
strongly that, after having learned something is endangering the life and
health of others (and lethal radionuclides certainly do constitute a clear
and certain danger) then we do indeed have a moral obligation to share this
information as widely as we possibly can.

This push for dozens of new nuclear power plants is not just dangerous due
to the threat of another Three Mile Island or Chernobyl incident. Nuclear
power plants emit dangerous gasses into America's environment - and it is up
to the people who know this to teach one another what is going on.

Because as sure as anything, Uncle Sam certainly has no intention of doing
so. Nukes are Big Business for wealthy power holders and corporate
investors. And if any of us believe we'll be seeing a public service
announcement on TV anytime soon on the dangers caused to public health and
the environment due to the operation of nuclear reactors? Well then go get
your check book, 'cause I've got a nice, clean, tasty bushell of oysters to
sell you harvested from the oyster bed closest to the drain pipe of the
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant that releases nuclear wastes into the
Chesapeake Bay.

For more information, see:

 <http://www.ratical.org/radiation/> www.ratical.org/radiation/
<http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/routineradioactivereleases.htm>
www.nirs.org/factsheets/routineradioactivereleases.htm 

www.radiation.org <http://www.radiation.org/> 

*What's a radionuclide? From Wikipedia: A radionuclide is an
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom> atom with an unstable
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_nucleus> nucleus, which is a nucleus
characterized by excess energy which is available to be imparted either to a
newly-created radiation particle within the nucleus, or else to an atomic
electron (see  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_conversion> internal
conversion) . The radionuclide, in this process, undergoes
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay> radioactive decay, and
emits a  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray> gamma ray(s) and/or
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subatomic_particles> subatomic particles.
These particles constitute
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation> ionizing radiation.
Radionuclides may occur naturally, but can also be artificially produced.

 Cathy Garger is a freelance writer, public speaker,  activist, and a
certified personal coach who specializes in Uranium weapons. Living in the
shadow of the national District of Crime, Cathy is constantly nauseated by
the stench emanating from the nation's capital during the Washington, DC,
federal work week.