Radiophobia wins again

[Steven Dapra <sjd@swcp.com>]

Jan. 22



	At last night's meeting, the Albuquerque City Council approved a Memorial

to ask the Department of Energy to stop or restrict shipments of waste

through Albuquerque going to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) near

Carlsbad, NM.  The approval was unanimous.



	Seventeen people spoke in favor of the Memorial, and three spoke against

it.  One of the Councilors, a mechanical engineer, told us he had worked at

a power reactor in Missouri, and he was going to support the Memorial.  His

reason was that the DOE has a poor record when it comes to gaining public

trust.  He didn't define the word "public."  The "public" last night and at

similar events consists of a small group of scientifically illiterate

citizens with a political agenda.  How many members of the general "Joe

Lunchpail" public do you suppose care one way or the other about DOE's

record, or about WIPP?



	The local anti-WIPP group was handing out a small flyer at the meeting

that said, "If a nuclear waste container explodes or breaks open the effect

will be that of a terrorist dirty bomb."  It added, in underlined bold

type, "Stay away from the radioactive trucks on I-40!" - the freeway

through Albuquerque - as if anyone is going to be fool enough to try and

maneuver his car up to a tractor-trailer rig traveling at 60 miles an hour.



Steven Dapra

sjd@swcp.com







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