Re: A quote from Greenpeace Australia

[PBarring@kdhe.state.ks.us]

Why does Greenpeace has so much respect from the international press?
Haven't twenty-odd years of purposeful misrepresentation of information
served to show that these people have NO REAL SCIENTIFIC interest.  They
are fear mongers and terrorist.

That said ...

Plutonium IS a very toxic substance.  Both from its chemical
characteristics and its radiological ones. Now here are some numbers to
remember.  Of all the spent fuel only 1.15% is plutonium. The isotope of
concern here is Pu239, which is primarily an alpha emitter and has a
half-life of 24,000 years and is 55% inventory in new spent fuel.  Again
this is problematic since the primary concern in an airborne form would be
the chemical hazard.  The amount of plutonium required to kill
radiologically would far exceed the amount required to kill chemically.
MOX generally only contains about 7% TOTAL Plutonium.

There are three primary pathways for plutonium to enter the body.
Ingestion, wounds, and inhalation.  Ingestion is not a significant hazard
since the body doesn't absorb it well and the material passes through the
intestinal tract before it can do harm.  Wound contamination is rare, but
again, the body doesn't absorb the material easily and medical attention,
if given quickly, will prevent harm.  Inhalation is the primary hazard.
Most of the particles will be exhaled or expelled by mucus flow to the
gastrointestinal tract.  What remains will be trapped in the lungs and
transferred to the blood or lymph system.  It will eventually reach the
bones and liver.   Plutonium is an extremely dangerous poison; it collects
in the bones and interferes with the production of white blood cells.  The
alpha radiation can also become a problem at this point but again the
levels required to become an immediate threat are much larger than are the
chemical levels.  For this level of hazard (airborne), the metal would have
to become vaporized or at least atomized.

Now for the fire problem ...

We can IMAGINE many kinds of accidents.  All you have to do is think like a
Hollywood screenwriter.  Think for a second of all the possible things that
could happen to you just on the drive to work.  Does that stop you from
going to work?  The human race manufactures chemicals and products DAILY
that have the POTENTIAL to cause untold death and destruction.  Gasoline,
natural gas, fertilizers, pesticides, bombs, guns, florescent lights and a
stack of acids, oxidizers and poison gasses.  All of these things could
kill us all and destroy the environment but we continue to produce them,
SAFELY, and without killing us all.

For the record, Plutonium oxide, in stable ceramic form (i.e. fuel pellets)
has a melting point of 2,390 degrees centigrade.  Not the 430 degrees
quoted by Greenpeace.  The vaporization (boiling point) temperature is
around 3,000 degrees. This still exceeds the 1500 degree diesel fuel fire
temps by a good margin.  Accident analysis are used to provide data to
develop way to PREVENT and PLAN for EXTREME circumstances.  In other words,
worst case scenarios.  Fear mongers like Greenpeace use these data to
corrupt the truth and bend facts to fit their own agendas.  Yes, fires,
collisions and explosions do occur on ships, but it's not like the ships
transporting this fuel are tramp steamers with no safety systems or
untrained crews.  Just because The Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk
doesn't mean that the same will happen to these freighters.  Unless the
Eco-nazi's plan on doing it themselves.

For those of you who might think I am being to harsh on Greenpeace, I have
my reasons.  While I was in the Navy we had several run ins with Greenpeace
and their "thralls".  They frequently tried to block passage of nuclear
vessels (submarines mostly) from leaving and entering port.  The
interesting thing is that the 'official' boats of Greenpeace always stayed
out of harm's way but they managed to convince their followers to place
their boats across our path.  For those of you who don't know, it takes a
finite amount of time to stop or redirect the path of a warship.  The
captain doesn't have a steering wheel or a throttle in his hands.  Commands
must be relayed to others to make these things happen.  A 187 foot long sub
with 35,000 tons behind it will turn most bass boats into firewood without
even slowing down.  A fact that I am sure the Greenpeace leaders know very
well.  They hope for 'incidents' so they can get press time, and they
really don't care who gets hurt.  More recently, with the shipments of MOX
fuel, Greenpeace has Managed to incite enough fear that most ports won't
let the MOX freighters dock and the Panama Canal denied them passage.
These actions have meant that the ship must now triple its sailing distance
and do so without any downtime and re-supply in port.  The longer sailing
time should be self explanatory, if you lengthen the voyage you increase
the chances of a mishap.  They would equal 'we told you so' time for
Greenpeace.  The lack of in port supply means less rest and the need for
underway replenishment of supplies.  Again increasing the chances for
accidents.  This is why I refer to Greenpeace as a terrorist group.  They
endanger others through their actions and they have no regard for the
consequences.  They are an amphoras entity that has no apparent leaders or
'home'.  Visit their websites.  They have no phone numbers or e-mail
addresses that connect you directly with anyone in charge.  Just press
hacks who will 'gladly send you some literature and pass along your
questions and concerns'.  I find this disturbing.  I may be over-reacting
but this is my opinion.  Has Greenpeace done any good?  Yes, but they
should stick to things they know about and stop peddling their version of
science as truth.

*sigh*  I did it again.  OK rant over.  Back to your regularly scheduled
ravings and informatory notices.





Philip Barringer
Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment
"My opinions, of course, not the State's"


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