Re: Plutonium -Reply

[JMUCKERHEIDE@delphi.com]

Eric Golden wrote:

>      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

Though the anti-science community (which knows better) writes it less,
statements continue to be made to the activist public so that this statement
is _pervasive_ in public meetings (especially in the context of llw) and
repeated/accepted by the uniformed on most public boards. (On the other hand,
look what DOE did to reinforce the perception with its treatment of the '40s
and '50s experiments for political advantage.) 

Regards, Jim