Public Trust and Other Dreams

[Russ Johnson <rujohnso@nmsu.edu>]

Dr. Gepford;

An awful lot of us have been wondering this all of our careers. I

believe one of the first huge obstables is the general public's distrust

of any government entity (or large federally funded contractor for that

matter) and anything they have to say. Comes from decades of "spin" and

misinformation from the AEC, DOE, NRC, DOD and others. Even the recent

declassification actions haven't helped when everyone found out about

alleged "coverups" of purposeful dosing of the public (even children)

without their consent, plus the negative results of that testing. Plus,

the public has demonstrated they would prefer someone else do the

information gathering for them, and let them know what was found out (I

call it lazy. This is the one big reason why the uninformed anti-nuke

movement is so influential.). This obstacle I believe will have to be

removed before any program is sucessfull. And that will not be easy.



I will believe in nuclear power when two things have been done. First,

nuclear reactors are extremely inefficient. Up to 90% of the energy

produced is dumped as radiant heat with only 10-15% utilized for power

conversion. Recycle some of that lost energy to get "more bang from the

buck". Secondly, the waste management issue. Got to find a way to either

produce less long-term rad waste, or figure a way to "recycle" it. Yucca

Mountain just like WIPP in New Mexico is only a temporary fix. It will

fill up and then close. Then what?

So, two good threads can come from this query......

- Russ Johnson

  Radiation Safety and Training Specialist

  New Mexico State University



"Gepford, Heather" wrote:



  I was just sitting here pondering how we might be able to better

communicate information about

  radiation and nuclear technology to the public.An interesting thought

came to mind, and I would like to  hear your thoughts on the topic.



 Specifically, why do YOU ‘believe’ in the benefits of nuclear

power/technology?How did you end up in the radiation safety

profession?More to the point, who/what influenced your

decision/belief?Was it  the media, a special interest group, the

government?Or was it someone close to you -a neighbor,  friend,

relative, teacher, etc.?



  __________________________________



  Heather J. Gepford, Ph.D., CHP

  Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering

  University of Missouri - Rolla

  226 Fulton Hall

  Rolla, MO 65409



  Email:   gepfordh@umr.edu

  Phone:  573-341-6780

  Fax:      573-341-6309









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