Dogma, anti-nukes,and the nuclear "debate"

[Stewart Farber <farbersa@optonline.net>]

Radsafe colleagues:



A few minutes ago I heard a broadcast of "A Lincoln Portrait", a composition by 

Aaron Copeland on NPRadio. This piece is a wonderful musical tribute to Abraham 

Lincoln accompanied by a text [compiled by Copeland], and narrated in this 

broadcast by Henry Fonda. One quote from Lincoln caught my attention and is worth 

noting since it is so relevant to the ongoing so-called "debate" between anti-

nuclear groups and those like most on this list promoting sensible and optimized 

applications of nuclear technology to the benefit of our society.



>From "A Lincoln Portrait" by Copeland, as stated by Lincoln:



"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion 

is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is 

new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then 

we will save our country."

[Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862]



On several occasions, I've cited a quote by the TV sitcom character Alf on the 

general subject of dogma:



"Dogma, dogma, dog manure"



Since so much of the anti-nuclear power "debate" rhetoric is based on little more 

than "dogma", the above quotes on the subject of "dogma" are important. Lincoln's 

is more eloquent and incredibly relevant to our situation today. However, Alf's 

quote is clever,  and appropriately quoted in some situations.



There's a desperate need to move beyond rhetoric in the nuclear debate. 



Yesterday's news include stories that Italy was facing the reality of having to 

write off some of its low lying coastal areas because it could not afford to try 

and hold back rising ocean levels attributed to global warming effects globally. 

Italy was going to spend vast sums of money to protect Venice but couldn't do the 

same all along its coasts. At the same time, politicians in New York State are 

trying to shut down Indian Point because of claims it is vulnerable to terrorist 

attack. Compared to what? If this line of argument were accepted New York should 

shut down every gas, and oil pipeline, every LNG and oil storage tank yard in the 

middle of New York, and every other industrial facility whose vital safety 

related systems aren't enclosed in 3 to 4 feet of reinforced concrete. Indian 

Point Nuclear Plant operations avoid the emission of about 10 million tons of 

carbon dioxide each year which would be released if its power generation [20% of 

New York State's net generation] were not available should it be shut down, and 

its output be generated by fossil fuels.



Are important societal decisions being made in the US based on dogma? Are we 

ready to go to war, based in part on the pressure of strategic issues related to 

oil supply from the Middle East?  Is France perhaps less concerned about oil 

imports [and unwilling to go along with the US] now that it generates 80% of its 

electricity consumption from nuclear power plants? Does the US need all the 

nuclear power generation currently in its mix  of generation [and should it have 

more nuclear plants] for environmental, climatic, economic,  and strategic 

reasons? Dogma alone isn't going to help answer these vital questions.



Stewart Farber, MS Public Health

Consulting Scientist

email: farbersa@optonline.net

[203] 367-0791









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