New book: "Tritium on Ice"

[Norman Cohen <ncohen12@comcast.net>]

Dave Lochbaum wrote:



> MIT Press has a publication date of October 18, 2002, for a

> new book titled "Tritium on Ice" by Kenneth D. Bergeron. The

> book covers the plan to use civilian nuclear power plants (in

> this case, the Watts Bar and/or Sequoyah reactors operated

> by the Tennessee Valley Authority) to make tritium for America's

> nuclear weapons.

>

> MIT Press lists the book at $24.95. It is 234 pages long and has

> seven illustrations. MIT Press indicates the book will be available

> in bookstores. It can be ordered directly from MIT Press via

> telephone (800 405-1619), e-mail (mitpress-orders@mit.edu) or

> internet (http://mitpress.mit.edu.)

>

> Bergeron worked for 25 years at the Sandia National Laboratory

> on the safety of commercial and military reactors. Among the many

> projects he worked on was the accident analysis for the ice condenser

> containment, such as that used at Watts Bar and Sequoyah. Bergeron

> details vulnerabilities in that containment design which will be exacerbated

> by the planned tritium production.

>

> Bergeron also chronicles what essentially amounts to fraud on the part

> of the US government during the "decision-making" process that

> culminated in the announcement by then DOE secretary Bill Richardson

> in December 1998 to make the nuclear weapons material in civilian

> reactors instead of via other options. The government set up this

> interagency task force to examine the options. Bergeron FOIAed the

> agencies allegedly represented on this task force and learned that

> the task force virtually consisted of one person at one agency. That

> person subsequently left government and seemingly took all records

> of the report prepared by the "task force" with her. Thus, the alleged

> consensus amounted basically to an opinion by a single person.

>

> Bergeron's book should appeal to varied audiences. He provides keen

> insights on the dynamics of decision-making within both DOE and NRC.

> He explains why more tritium is not needed for many, many years and

> even if needed, it's not needed bad enough to make it in civilian

> nuclear reactors with ice condenser containments.

>

> I've read the book and recommend it.

>

> Dave Lochbaum

> Nuclear Safety Engineer

> Union of Concerned Scientists

> 1707 H Street NW Suite 600

> Washington, DC 20006-3962

> (202) 223-6133 x113

> (202) 223-6162 fax

>

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