Re: WHO calls for $20m for research on DU

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@hotmail.com>]

>If I could find a chunk of an expended DU round, then could I get a grant 
>to keep an eye on it and in two years, submit a report of my observations ?
----
The $20m project is about politics and psychology - not rational 
cost-benefit decision making. There is in my opinion _no way_ that reasoning 
and technical data could convince a worried general public or a good number 
of politicians in a situation like this.

Remember that if scientists & technically oriented people send an input X 
(like microBq or ppb - logical message) to the media/public/politicians - 
the (output) is often a Y (fear - brain stem dinosaur type of response that 
suppresses much of A+B->C capabilities). It comes down to "can I trust this 
person?" and "(s)he is/is not like me".

My personal reflections only,

Bjorn Cedervall   bcradsafers@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/bjorn_cedervall/
PS. I am giving a lecture on risk communication to some engineers in the 
chemical process industry on Monday - planning that may have inspired some 
of the words above.... It will probably be more about psychology and 
language than about atoms & molecules.

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