Re: 60 minutes - Yucca Mountain

[WBrunkowConsult@AOL.COM]

That recent  60 minutes broadcast is as good as it gets ..for our US Nuclear 

Industry. We in the nuclear industry know that...I would hope.

A recent poll in USA Today showed that most Nevadans don't want the 

depository but almost 80% are certain it will be built and operated. Almost that same 

percentage wants the State to keep at the Federal Govt. for reparations. Don't 

forget the segment on 60 minutes where they showed the 1950s information 

booklet that said "radioactive contamination may become inconvenient but is not a 

hazard". Who was working in the period ....that was in their right mind. As Ken 

Mossman used to say " what disoriented person chose to name a field "health 

Physics".  I know a Marine Corps general who as a 2Lt. led soldiers into ground 

zero on operation smoky with no dosimetry or respiratory protection. Squads 

were brushed with a broom after the exercise as they got back on deuce and 

halfs ...thus greatly dispersing the heavy Alpha to their lungs that was all over 

their uniforms. 



The bottom line...everyone wants to suck the fed. Govt. dry, even the people 

with houses burnt down in S. CA. I lived there 3 years in the present fire 

zone and bailed out in the late 80s. What kind of emergency planning exits out 

there, what insurance company that is in business to make a profit  would put up 

with that. When will the overbuilding stop.Why wouldn't they get concerned 

about a beetle infestation and dead forests like they hadn't seen in 50 years. 



For us in the nuclear business, we are a part of the tremendous waste 

...simply put.. that is also brokered through the federal govt.    And maybe some day 

we will finally have the intestinal fortitude to announce that a low to 

moderate dose of  ionizing radiation is indeed not hazardous...but that would put 

alot of us out of jobs wouldn't it. 



Ward G. Brunkow

Sr. Technical Consultant

The Chamberlain Group, Ltd. 

703.929.1280