Re: Union of Concerned Scientists

[BERNARD L COHEN <blc+@PITT.EDU>]

On Mon, 5 Nov 2001, Norman Cohen wrote:

>

> Why don't we stick to safety issues and not bad mouth the messenger?



	--If you want to stick to safety issues, you should contact NRC.

They are loaded with experts and it is their job to respond to safety

concerns. But UCS is constantly harranguing the public about issues which

the public is incompetent to understand, so it boils down to propaganda.

If UCS has analyses that they feel are not being responded to by NRC, they

should address the scientific community at large thru papers in

scientific journals -- that is what I have always done. But NRC has

published very little in the scientific literature where the audience

might understand things. Their target is always the public which cannot

possibly understand.

	If UCS wants to enter into scientific dialog, why don't they

publish a study estimating the probalistically weighted impact on human

health of the nuclear power industry? They actually did this in the mid

1970s, but soon withdrew it and never repeated the process. Their 1970s

report still showed that nuclear power was still the safest way of

generating electricity -- Henry Kendall (president of UCS at that time)

even conceded this in a debate with me before a scientific audience, but

not to the public.

	If UCS is interested in protecting public health, why don't they

work over the problems with other technologies for generating electricity.

By stopping development of nuclear power, they are effectively promoting

these much more dangerous technologies, and hence doing great harm to

public health. How can they justify that?

	Going beyond health issues, why aren't they concerned with our

consuming the world's fossil fuel resources at such a tremendous rate,

leaving future generations at great disadvantage. How will they heat their

homes and power their transportation systems?

	I could go on and on about how destitute of morality UCS is. These

are some of the reasons which all but one of the original founders of UCS

resigned very early in the game.



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