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Re: Question for Norm Cohen
Radiation and nuclear power are not religions or tenets of faith but,
respectively, an observed phenomenon and a method of converting heat to
electricity. Phlogiston wasn't a tenet of faith either, but an explanation
for certain phenomena that was superseded by a better explanation for those
phenomena.
Ruth Weiner
ruth_weiner@msn.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Norman & Karen Cohen <norco@bellatlantic.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Sunday, May 07, 2000 9:40 PM
Subject: Re: Question for Norm Cohen
>Hi Andrew,
>
>My comments below:
>
>"Karam, Andrew" wrote:
>
>> I've been following these threads with intermittent attention. I really
>> have only one question that I would like to pose to Mr. Cohen because I
>> think that the answer will be of great help to many of us.
>>
>> What would it take to convince you and your colleagues that radiation and
>> nuclear power are no worse than any other accepted technologies in terms
of
>> short- and long-term risks?
>>
>
>--------- I can only speak, of course, for myself. I didn't come to this
list
>for an epiphany or conversion. There's a book by a Catholic writer called
"Many
>Mansions". In there he talks of his experience in the dialogues he has had
with
>religious people from many other religions. He gained from each experience,
but
>remained Catholic. The purpose of his dialogues was not conversion, but
>understanding. Thats the long answer. The short answer is: "I don't know".
>I've already discussed this in answers to others' posts about "why are you
>here".------
>
>>
>> In my opinion, your answer to this is crucial. If you state that no
>> evidence will be convincing, then any attempts to communicate with you
are
>> fruitless because your mind is closed. If your requirements are
>> unreasonable or impossible to meet, then, again, attempts to communicate
are
>> doomed to failure. If your requirements are high, but reasonable, then
we
>> have the basis for continued dialogue.
>> ------- Let me try this. In early 1999, when Y2K fever began to hit, some
>> activists in UNPLUG Salem wanted us to spend alot of time and media
talking
>> about how the world was going to end on 1/1/2000. We stayed away from
that,
>> except to occasionally criticize PSE&G for the slowness of their Y2K
>> preparations. And we stayed out of the Y2K fray because the majority of
us
>> felt that, no matter what one wanted to say about the NRC and nuke
companies,
>> it was hard to believe they'd deliberately ignore the Y2K dangers. This
>> decision was made after months of listening to 'all sides' and making a
>> reasonable decision.
>
>Now with nukes, it may well be that my personal 'risk tolerance' for nukes
is
>just too low for me ever to embrce this technology. But it is also true
that
>I'll continue to listen and to learn and to try to think rationally about
the
>subject.-------------
>
>Thanks
>Norm
>
>
>
>>
>> Respectfully,
>>
>> Andy
>>
>> Andrew Karam, CHP (716) 275-1473 (voice)
>> Radiation Safety Officer (716) 275-3781 (office)
>> University of Rochester (716) 256-0365 (fax)
>> 601 Elmwood Ave. Box HPH Rochester, NY 14642
>>
>> Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
>> http://Intranet.urmc.rochester.edu/RadiationSafety
>>
>> Mathematics may be compared to a mill of exquisite workmanship which
grinds
>> you stuff of any degree of fineness; but, nevertheless, what you get out
>> depends on what you put in; and as the grandest mill in the world will
not
>> extract wheat-flour from peascods, so pages of formulae will not get a
>> definite result out of loose data. (T.H. Huxley, 1869)
>>
>> ************************************************************************
>> The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
>> information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html
>
>--
>Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr
Ave.,
>Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8537 or 609-601-8583 (8583: fax, answer
machine);
>norco@bellatlantic.net; UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE: http://www.unplugsalem.org/
>COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE:
>http://members.bellatlantic.net/~norco/ ICQ# 54268619; The Coalition for
Peace
>and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
>“We have two lives, the one we’re given, and the other one we make” (Mary
Chapin
>Carpenter)
>“Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights...Get up, stand up, don’t give
up
>the fight!” (Bob Marley)
>
>
>
>
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information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html