Re: near miss

["Jerry Cohen" <jjcohen@PRODIGY.NET>]

    Not that we need it, but I cited this news article just to give another

example of media ignorance and/or bias. It kind of reminded me of a previous

news article expressing concern over the possibility of a major tidal wave

hitting the coast of California. Such a tidal wave could possibly  drown

millions of people living in coastal areas, but as implied in the article,

the really serious consequence of such an occurrence would be the possible

release of some radioactivity from  nuclear plants in the affected areas.





----- Original Message -----

From: Jim Hardeman <Jim_Hardeman@MAIL.DNR.STATE.GA.US>

To: <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>

Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 7:53 PM

Subject: Re: near miss





> So what????? Are we now going to see newspaper articles and TV stories

every time something bad happens within 2 / 5 / 10 / 20 / 50 / 100 miles of

a nuclear plant, along with the breathless commentary about how if [insert

tragedy here] had struck that nuclear plant, we'd all be dead now??? Geez!

My (admittedly already low) opinion of "the media" just went down a few more

notches ...

>

> The sad part is, there are a lot of people out there who believe this

drivel.

>

> My $0.02 worth ...

>

> Jim Hardeman

> Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us

>

> >>> "Jerry Cohen" <jjcohen@PRODIGY.NET> 5/1/2002 15:50:32 >>>

>      Tornado just missed nuclear plant

>             Storm passed two miles northeast of Calvert Cliffs, officials

estimate

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

>             By Johnathon E. Briggs

>             Sun Staff

>             Originally published May 1, 2002

>

>

>

>             Packing winds of more than 261 miles per hour, the strongest

tornado in Maryland's history passed within an estimated two miles of the

Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Calvert County on Sunday.

>

>             Plant officials said yesterday that although the state had

never before experienced a twister of such magnitude, the nuclear facility,

perched on a slope overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, could have withstood the

violent storm.

>

>             "The plant is designed to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes,

earthquakes, a wide range of events," spokesman Karl Neddenien said of the

power plant owned and operated by Constellation Energy Group, parent company

of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.

>

>             Photographs taken Sunday evening, apparently by a plant

employee from an area on the grounds that looks toward the bay, have

circulated in recent days showing the spinning funnel cloud touching down in

the water as it moved east toward Dorchester County.

>

>             The category F5 tornado - highest on a scale used by

meteorologists - appears to be about two miles northeast of the 28-year-old

plant, officials said.

>

>             But critics were asking: Are Calvert Cliffs structures rated

to withstand an F5 tornado?

>

>             "I've seen pictures of a stalk of straw thrown through a

telephone pole by a tornado. It's certainly not a ho-hum kind of affair,"

said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Watchdog Project with the Nuclear

Information and Resource Service in Washington.

>

>             "Clearly the concern is the power system to the plant, whether

or not the buildings the emergency generators are housed in are rated to

take winds of up to 260 miles per hour or tornado missiles."

>

>

>

>

> ************************************************************************

> You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

> send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

> radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.

> You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/

>



************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.

You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/