Re: 1/2 kilo of Plutonium

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 19:50 06.06.2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Long-time UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of
>Atomic Radiation) member and former Chairman Zbigniew Jaworowski wrote an
>excellent paper "Radiation Risk and Ethics" in Physics Today, Sept 99.  On
>the third page of the paper, first column, he quotes from the Herald Tribune
>"200 grams of plutonium could kill every human being on earth."  He then
>debunks the statement, saying that the "the 541 atmospheric nuclear
>[weapons] tests...injected 3 tons of plutonium into the atmosphere...and
>somehow we are still alive."  

I have used this argument already 1978 when the big debate on the Austrian
Nuclear Power Plant was going on. I can tell you that the effect on the
anti's was absolut zero - they used the same nonsense right away again the
same day. This was one of the reasons why I then refused to discuss about
the "dangers of nuclear power" any more.

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at


Office:
Hofrat Dr. Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management
Radiation Protection Department (BMLFUW I/8 U)
Radetzkystr. 2
A-1031 Vienna
AUSTRIA

phone: -43-1-71172-4458
fax: -43-1-7122331

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