Re: Spent Fuel and Possible Bomb Material -Reply

[Jim Hardeman <Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us>]

Good point Sandy. I've been working with our friends in DOE
... both in EM (foreign spent fuel shipments) and OCRWM
(commercial spent fuel shipments) on transportation issues
for several years ... and what I've said all along is that we've
codified the fears of the public in federal regulation. If you look
closely at both 10 CFR and 49 CFR you'd swear that
radioactive materials were absolutely the most dangerous
commodities shipped on our highways ... far worse than
Explosives or Poison Gas. One can make an argument that it
is precisely these regulations that make radioactive material
transportation as safe as it is, but as long as transport
regulations deal with radioactive materials as a "special
case", we're going to have a hard time explaining to the public
that they're "just another hazardous material". Somewhat of a
Catch-22, isn't it?

Jim Hardeman, Manager
Environmental Radiation Program
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
4244 International Parkway, Suite 114
Atlanta, GA 30354
(404) 362-2675  fax: (404) 362-2653
Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us

>>> Sandy Perle  08/29/96 21:02 >>>

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.