Re: Dirty bombs(more on the LNT)

[Charles Picco <picco1@llnl.gov>]

Very well put, Ruth


At 12:21 PM 12/23/2002 -0500, RuthWeiner@AOL.COM wrote:

> In
>
> a message dated 12/23/02 9:21:22 AM Mountain Standard Time,
>
> tmorgan@ISOTOPEPRODUCTS.COM writes:
>
>
> > There is no fundamental
> >
> > difference between failing to listen to the facts about radiation and the
> >
> > facts (or lack thereof) associated with any other hot political topic
> >
> > (take your pick).
> >
> >
> >   
>
>
>
> However, we do not hear people say:  "in my opinion we don't
>
> need gasoline to run a gasoline engine"  or "in my opinion
>
> we don't need to supply heat in order to cook food" or "in my
>
> opinion it is raining outside, even though I don't see any rain at
>
> all."    Anyone with a crippling or fatal disease
>
> would love to wish it away.  On a more mundane level, I would dearly
>
> love to tell my dentist that in my opinion I will never need another root
>
> canal.
>
>
> Whether or not to site a nuclear plant in a specific place may be a
>
> political decision, but the notion that, for example, a spent nuclear
>
> fuel transportation cask is going to go critical is absolutely not a
>
> political decision or a matter of opinion -- it's just wrong.  The
>
> Laws of Thermodynamics and Newton's Laws were not passed by a
>
> legislature, and are not anyone's political opinion.  Moreover,
>
> science is not done by popular vote, and is neither democratic nor
>
> undemocratic.
>
>
> In other words, people can think what they like of course, but when
>
> decisions for the general welfare are made on the basis of opinions that
>
> are unsupported or contradicted by objective evidence, those decisions
>
> are generally poor.
>
>   
>
>
> Ruth
>
> Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.
>
> ruthweiner@aol.com

Charles Picco
HEU Dosimetry Coordinator / Internal Dosimetry Technician
Hazards Control Department
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Phone:  925-422-7078
Pager:   925-423-7705   then 04543