Re: RADSAFE digest 3157

[Holloway3@aol.com]

David Pyle writes:

<< Nuclear
 power came about partly because people were coming out of a war and were
 looking toward the future and were easily convinced that with enough "too
 cheap to meter" (regardless of whose quote it is) energy they could do
 anything.  Now people are looking toward the future again, but this time
 they are saying "If we don't do something to save the planet it doesn't
 matter how much energy we have."  They look back at the government's and
 nuclear industry's failed 50 year-old promises to clean up its little
 radioactive messes scattered all over the country and, regardless of whose
 fault it is that the promises haven't been kept, see nuclear power as a
 failed technology that has no place in their clean world future.  Failed
 technology or not, national policy created the nuclear power industry and
 national policy will create its successor.  It really isn't Norm's job to
 articulate a national energy plan; it's the job of all of us working 
together.
  >>
David,

I doubt that the phrase "too cheap to meter" had anything to do with the rise 
of nuclear power in this country.  Obviously no company is going to give 
power away.  Also, I believe your view of nuclear power as a failed 
technology is not accurate and your expection of other sources of energy too 
optimistic.  Other sources of energy can be helpful and a mix of energy 
sources, including nuclear, is going to be the source of our energy for the 
indefinite future.  When I drive by a nuclear plant, I see a clean, 
non-polluting source of energy that does not contribute to the greenhouse 
problem.  What is a great stumbling block to energy production in this 
country is the false information that is being put forth about the alleged 
dangers of nuclear power plants - allegations which have never been proven 
and are known to be false by those with professional backgrounds in nuclear 
science.   Just purely on the number of deaths from various forms of energy 
production, nuclear power is far safer than any other form of power 
production. Claims to the contrary are false and can be proven to be false.  
A few weeks or months ago, I heard of a large number of coal miners being 
killed in a mine cave accident in the Ukraine. This is not unusual.  You 
don't hear of any similar number of deaths from nuclear power plants - at 
least not with the frequency of coal mining accidents.  Why is it that your 
organization isn't trying to shut down coal mining?  Mine accidents are quite 
frequent, you know.  And even in the absence of accidents, there is "black 
lung" and other problems associated with coal mining.  
 
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