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RE: [MbrExchange] Re: NG blast (again)
Richard:
There is a very
simple reason why the people are afraid of radiation. It's NOT that we
haven't gotten our message across. Quite the opposite. People were
quite pleased about the positive health potential of radium and x-rays when they
were first discovered. WE told them to be scared. We invented the
China Syndrome and mass evacuations and KI and nuclear mutants. And we
keep telling them, in government-sponsored reports and news releases and
interviews, that nuclear technology presents unprecedented threats to humanity
and the earth.
When I was in Oak
Ridge last week, Alvin Weinberg invited me up to his house to urge me to back
his msg that nuclear energy is a Faustian bargain--uniquely and inherently and
inescapably dangerous. I told him I could not support such a message
because I think it's demonstrably false.
Don't blame the
public. They fully understand our msg, and it scares them. They know
that the prescribed evacuation plan for Indian Point has been deemed
"unworkable" by FEMA, and they want it shut down. I don't see how we can
fault them for that.
Ted
Rockwell
Ted, you have eloquently stated the
point.
I'm not sure that I can speak for everyone, so let me speak for
myself in the condition I was in before joining this list.
The simple
answer to your somewhat rhetorical question is lack of education. The broader
answer is perhaps answered by a song written by my good friend, Marie-Lynn
Hammond and yes, released on my record (CD) label, Vignettes Media.
http://www.richardhess.com/mlh/mlh_635.htm has the complete
lyrics
it was written (and copyright) in 1985 and I think it sums up the
fears and concerns. Below is an excerpt with my comments as to the
concerns...
it’s sweeping cross the nation
and you don’t stand a
chance
with radiation [radiation]
...there is no human defense to
radiation
...the implication is you can't protect yourself
well
they dump it in the lake
and they dump it in the sea
it gets into the
fish
then the fish get into me
it’s radiation [radiation]
...the
disposal of radioactive wastes has not
...always been as conservative
as Yucca Mtn
...I recall seeing on "The Twentieth Century"
...with Walter Cronkite dumping it into the sea...
Mulroney tells me that
the levels are safe
but hell, what does that mean?
...politicians are not always trustworthy--
...how can you
believe "safe"
...in recent conversations about
Davis-Besse
...with an Ohio newspaper editor, he is
convinced
...that the scariest part is that the
administrative
...controls failed and "next time" we may not
...be as lucky, so why take the chance?
I woke up this
morning
I counted my toes
my God, I had sixteen!
...the
fears surrounding radiation and mutation
...are as great as the
big boom.
...obviously we all realize that you don't grow
the
...toes immediately, but remember this is an
anti-nuke
...song that needs to be catchy and get the point
across
well they give us a choice
as to how we can go
we can either
blow up
or we can go real slow
with radiation [radiation]
...this is the crux of the matter
...to most people
radiation=Hiroshima
...or cancer (go real slow)
I'll
leave the humorous punch line to those who read the lyrics on the Web
site.
The point is, the fears coalesced by a clever songwriter into a
2:24 song to be sung mostly at anti-nuclear rallies are the fears of the people.
"Folk" music is what folks sing. It's as much a reflection of the culture as
anything.
In fact, this song was aired yesterday in Missouri--yes I
track listed airplays.
So why have you (we? no, mostly you--I'm not a
radiation professional) failed in the education? I don't know. Where do we go
when we follow the money?
I do know that grade school education is
painfully green these days. A neighbor discussed her daughter coming home
worried that Florida will disappear due to global warming--and she extrapolated
that all those people will drown...it's much more a sociological and economic
burden if it happens than a drowning event, but that's not what the kid came
away with.
There is a general mistrust of scientists and
engineers...perhaps starting with the Titanic (unsinkable, eh?) or perhaps going
back to the Luddites.
The idea
that nuclear power is uniquely and inescapably more dangerous than almost any
other human activity is refuted by both science and history.
That message is failing to get across,
sorry!
Three other singer-songwriters that I like also have nuclear
songs. Nancy White, for example, talks about "sure we can evacuate the
city//ever try to get out of town on Friday night//when nothing's even wrong?"
(my paraphrase, sorry, Nancy). Kristin Lems has written a song "Chernobyl"
They're all expressing the fears. I chose Marie-Lynn's song as an
example because she covers all the bases and it's lyrics are published (and I'm
her record label).
Counter this body of "knowledge" that's out there and
you'll have something! It took you all a lot of work to convert me--do we all
have the time to try and convert everyone else? I know it starts with one
person...and thanks for making me see the light. I've yet to change one person's
mind.
And, yes, I've never enjoyed the concept of natural gas in the
home. I was always much more afraid of "those pipes" in the basement than I ever
was of electricity as a child growing up. When I was 14 or so, we had a big gas
main explosion that took out a city block ( I don't think anyone was killed)
about two miles from my house. It woke up my parents whose window faced that
direction.
And yes, I have a natural gas automatic seismic shutoff valve
in front of my house...and KI tablets inside
<smile>.
Cheers,
Richard