Re: death wish?

[PBarring@KDHE.STATE.KS.US]

Sandy,

     The glimmer is still there, we (the industry) have to fight to make it

brighter.  This is the time when we need to speak loudest to our elected

officials and let them know that nuclear isn't the evil bugbear it has been

made out to be.  If the utilities were smart they would be starting grass

roots add campaigns to swing public opinion further into our camp.  Think

about it, who would have thought 20 years ago that the government would

turn on tobacco the way they did.  Since the 20's tobacco was the darling

of the government's promotional campaigns.  Tobacco was GOOD!  Tobacco pays

huge taxes.  It took insurance companies and skyrocketing medical bills to

turn the favored sons into mad dog killers.  That is what advertising and

campaigning can do.  I'm not advocating lying to the public or to the

legislature.  We need to make people understand that coal and oil

generation, while perfectly good short term solutions and therefore

attractive to politicians, will simply extend and quicken the spiral we are

already in.  Party in-fighting needs to be suspended.  I'm sure nobody back

east or out west needs to be reminded about the gas prices (which have

magically gone down now that summer travel has slowed) or heating oil

prices or even the thought (or reality) of blackouts.  California isn't the

only place in the US with energy woes.  Check out the electrical reserve on

the eastern grid.  It was down to 3% last time I checked.  There should be

20%.  This is due primarily to NUCLEAR plant losses on the east coast that

haven't been replaced.  Public opinion DOES favor nukes, as long as we

don't build one in anyone's back yard.

     All I can say to you and everyone else in the industry is --write,

write, write to your senators, congressmen, representatives and governors.

Ignore the bozo in the oval office, he is just a figurehead.  He simply

speaks for the moneyed industries and special interests.  This has been

true since Regan, (to a lesser degree with Clinton) and continues with Bush

II.  (OK, my politics are showing)  We need to communicate to the Powers

that Be that nuclear power IS a solution and not a nightmare.



     *and now I will quietly put my soapbox away and get out my word

processor to write a few of those letters*



Phil Barringer



"My opinions only, not my employers or anyone else's that I know of"









There was an apparent glimmer of light when the Bush administration

proposed to focus on nuclear generated electricity, and, to

facilitate waste disposal facility operations, in order for the USA

to advance both technologically as well as economically. All was good

.. until Tom Daschle ascended to Majority Leader, stating that

nuclear power legislation is Dead On Arrival!   Now we have UK's

Blair using the same rhetoric. What is with these politicians?



The current energy crisis, where demand exceeds supply, is only the

tip of the iceberg. It is apparent that US politicians (democrats

mostly), are going to throw us back into the dark ages. We will

continue to become more dependent on foreign sources of energy, and

in the end, will most likely become subservient to their needs.

Anyone remember our fighting men in Kuwait? If it weren't for oil, do

you think we would have been there? The answer is clear .. it took

about 5 years before our fighting men went to the Balkans to stop

genocide. Too bad there wasn't oil in "them darn hills"!!



So, we obviously have a death wish. We're on our way to a self-

fulfilling prophecy. With public opinion favoring nuclear generated

power, what will it take for these self-serving politicians to see

the light? Well for one, nuclear power that will allow the light to

come on when they flip the switch!







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