Re: Spent Fuel and Possible Bomb Material

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

Good to see you Mike!!!!

Your comment, "The simple truth is that 10's of thousands of people die each year on
the highway -- none have ever died from the radioactive nature of a
spent fuel shipments (and probably will never)" is very true, yet is 
lost to the average person because highway accidents are so common 
that they appear to be an "accepted" risk and not worth a second 
thought. It;s the unusual or not well-understood risks that gain the 
publics attention and concern. It's NOT the reality or the fact there 
is a low probability of the risk, rather it's the perception of the 
risk consequences that gets the attention.

Just look at the tragic accident of the recent TWA disaster. Lot's of 
press, and approximately $20 million spent in reclamation of the 
parts. Why? It's an unusual occurrence, there is the mystique of 
sabotage, etc.

Nuclear power will always have the negative opinion of the public. 
They don't understand it, they fear it, and the experts for too long 
have told the public that they do not need to know about it and that 
we, the nuclear industry should be trusted. Unfortunately, we, as 
well as the government, are not trusted by the majority of the 
citizens. Very sad indeed. And I might add that many actions taken by 
CEOs of the nuclear power industry have only fuelled the public's 
distrust. We have to hope that a major educational program for the 
children growing up today may be the industry's only salvation.

Sandy Perle
E-mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com

Homepages:
http://www.netcom.com/~sandyfl/home.html
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