RE: Lucas Hts Reactor

["Ted Rockwell" <tedrock@CPCUG.ORG>]

> The real issue is whether the nuclear

industry is smart enough and conscientious enough to properly manage the

technology.



Bill:



I think you've worded the question properly, but have reached the wrong

answer.  Nuclear advocates have always tried to prove that they have the

smarts (and the gadgets, guards, barriers, etc.) to keep the dreaded dragon

at bay, because otherwise...too scary to talk about!  TMI was deemed

harmless only because we had [they said] nearly perfect containment.  The

implication that just inside the TMI containment was Chernobyl, straining to

get out, is not a reassuring one.



So long as we tell people one gamma ray can kill them, then try to convince

them that unlike any other humans, we can be counted on to never slip up and

let the little rascal out--the public will never buy that, and they

shouldn't.



The fact is that nuclear people, like everyone else, goof up occasionally.

This can have serious implications (it cost a bundle to get over TMI) but it

cannot cause a public hazard.  That last phrase is true only if you refute

the idea that tiny amounts of radiation are harmful, make reasonable

assumptions as to what amount of radiation can get out, and note that such

small amounts of radiation are not a public hazard.



Only by confronting the whole story can you deal with radiophobia.  We've

tried the other path for fifty years, and as you say, it doesn't work.  Why

should it?  I wouldn't buy it, would you?



Ted Rockwell





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

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/