[ RadSafe ] U.S. Inks Nuclear Reprocessing Deal With India Real Comment Follows

Sun Aug 8 22:20:27 CDT 2010

Oh well, here goes. Let's see what kind of trouble my big mouth can get me into now. 

I would certainly be happy to see nuclear material supplied to India by the US reprocessed. It is insane to bury fuel that still has over 99% of the energy content remaining with in it. Someone around the world will supply India with fuel, it may as well benefit the US. 

I have no major nonproliferation fears from the agreement with India. I believe that nonproliferation is one of the biggest red herrings ever foisted upon the world. For red herring explanation please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring_(idiom)

To the best of my knowledge, no country that seriously pursued a weapons program has failed to produce one. It was accomplished by US in the mid-20th century without the use of anything close to a modern computer. Calculations were performed on Friden calculators and IBM punch card machines. In my opinion, if an entity is willing to kill people while manufacturing an atomic bomb, the end result cannot be prevented. 

To prevent the reprocessing of utilized (spent or whatever else we call it now) fuel, because of fears that material will be diverted for weapons manufacture is just silly. Both India and the US have all the capability to manufacture atomic weapons they need without diverting material from the agreement. 

For that matter, I would love to see nuclear material reprocessed within the US. With approximately 16% of the US workforce unemployed, underemployed, or too overwhelmed to look for a job, I believe that many of these people would benefit from employment in a robust US nuclear industry. 

As for the second article from 2007, I don't think that I would call the NRC the "lap dog of the DOE." I think that both entities have unique missions and are often at odds with each other. Both institutions can have unusual operating conditions, and it can be difficult to understand what exactly that they are trying to accomplish but I don't believe that one organization rubber stamps the other. 

Jeff

Jeff Terry
Asst. Professor of Physics
Life Science Bldg Rm 166
Illinois Institute of Technology
3101 S. Dearborn St. 
Chicago IL 60616
630-252-9708
terryj at iit.edu

On Aug 8, 2010, at 9:11 PM, parthasarathy k s wrote:

> All radsafers,
> 
> Last nine messages did not deal with "US inks Nuclear Reprocessing Deal with 
> India", the "Subject" of the messages. The message is more important than who 
> wrote it. After a few messages in the list you tend to realize who is likely to 
> contribute! No offence meant!
> 
> I carefully looked for some views of the list members on the US-India deal.This 
> is particularly because of my India connection and also because I knew closely 
> the early developments which led to the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation 
> agreement. The article I wrote for the Press Trust of India gives an idea  about 
> some of these developments;
> 
> http://ksparth.blogspot.com/2007/04/india-us-nuclear-issue_764.html
> 
> K.S.Parthasarathy
> (Formerly Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board)
> Raja Ramanna Fellow
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: "Perle, Sandy" <SPerle at mirion.com>
> To: Franz Schönhofer <franz.schoenhofer at chello.at>; Joseph Alvarez 
> <jalvabeta at gmail.com>; Radsafe <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> Sent: Mon, 9 August, 2010 6:26:46
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] U.S. Inks Nuclear Reprocessing Deal With India
> 
> I've known Joe Alvarez for many years and he is extremely technically competent 
> and his opinions and comments are appropriate for consideration here on Radsafe 
> as well as any other forum he posts to. Joe was also on the Health Physics 
> Society Board of Directors and was my liaison to the Board as I was the Chair, 
> Health Physics Standards Committee (which I am still Chair going into my 3rd 
> three year term). Joe did note that his affiliation was included in his E-Mail 
> posting, and even if it were not, I agree with Jeff that with the many personal 
> smart phones used for responding to posts, it is not always convenient to 
> include one's entire signature information. When I respond or post from my 
> smartphone, just my name is included. Where possible, one's affiliation is of 
> interest, but it's the comments that count and not necessarily the affiliation 
> that is important. Having just had surgery for a detached retina three days ago, 
> and I'm typing with one eye closed, I'll stop my comments here, before I 
> aggravate the condition even more.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Sandy
> ____________________
> Sander C. Perle
> President
> Mirion Technologies
> Dosimetry Services Division
> 2652 McGaw Avenue
> Irvine, CA 92614
> 
> +1 (949) 296-2306 (Office)
> +1 (949) 296-1144 (Fax)
> 
> Mirion Technologies: http://www.mirion.com/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Aug 8, 2010, at 2:38 PM, Franz Schönhofer wrote:
> 
>> You are kidding – I am polite, not using some other probably more
>> Appropriate expressions. An email address is no identification –how should
>> it, since it can be chosen freely? Though being not at all a professional at
>> the Internet I recognize that it is you, who has no idea about it.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I need not grow up, I am old enough. I fully support young scientists
>> whenever I can,  but maybe you should shed the eggshells from your head
>> (literallily translated from German).
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> RADSAFE does not need such wannabes and trolls, you should leave RADSAFE at
>> once unless you can provide something substantial.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
>> 
>> MinRat i.R.
>> 
>> Habicherg. 31/7
>> 
>> A-1160 Wien/Vienna
>> 
>> AUSTRIA
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
>> Von: Joseph Alvarez [mailto:jalvabeta at gmail.com]
>> Gesendet: Sonntag, 08. August 2010 22:47
>> An: Franz Schönhofer
>> Cc: Clayton J Bradt; radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
>> Betreff: Re: [ RadSafe ] U.S. Inks Nuclear Reprocessing Deal With India
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Please note. I did identify myself and affiliation. How else were you able
>> to reply? To claim otherwise is another example of your lack of
>> professionalism. Please grow up.
>> 
> 
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