Re: Plutonium -Reply

["GOLDIN, ERIC" <goldinem@songs.sce.com>]

     Paul Frame wrote:  
     
          Pro: I don't believe that many people (aside from perhaps a  
          few newspaper reporters) have actually stated, in recent     
          years, that Pu is the most hazardous material known to man. 
     
     
     While we may not see much of this in the print media these days, 
     the quotes are repeated often in a perhaps more sinister venue:  
     the legal arena.  Two recent examples:
     
     In the Ward Valley low level radioactive waste facility license 
     controversy:  From the 10/15/93 filing in LA County Superior 
     Court, opponents of the Ward Valley facility claimed 
     "Plutonium-239, with a half-life of 24,000 years, is among the 
     most toxic substances on earth; one-millionth of an ounce lodged 
     in the human body can cause cancer."
     
     In the 12/8/94 press release announcing the formal complaint 
     filed by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service with the 
     Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General, NIRS said, 
     "Plutonium-239 is among the most toxic elements on earth; a 
     millionth of an ounce of plutonium if inhaled, will cause lung 
     cancer."
     
     Do we want lawyers and judges making the call on the comparative 
     level of toxicity?                      Eric Goldin