Re: Comments on Nuclear Energy

["TOSH USHINO" <ushinot@songs.sce.com>]

Although my experiences and academic background pales in comparison to Bob 
Flood, Sandy Perle, and Morton Goldman (and I certainly can't add anymore to the
excellent responses posted by them already), (and this being Friday p.m.) I 
would like to add a different spin to the following questions posed...
     
>1. No satisfactory method has been found to halt nuclear proliferation or 
>prevent diversion of nuclear material by subversive or terrorist elements.

>2. The costs and problems associated with decommissioning nuclear power plants 
>have not been properly analyzed or accounted for in the costs of nuclear power 
>and governments are using taxpayers' money to subsidize nuclear power.

>3. No satisfactory method has been found to guarantee safe operation of nuclear
>power plants in the event of employee negligence or sabotage.
     
If similar questions were posed to different industries (say airlines), what 
sort of responses can we expect to receive?
     
1. No satisfactory method has been found to halt proliferation of terrorism or 
prevent terrorist from placing explosive devices on passenger planes or 
launching missiles against them.
     
2. The costs and problems associated with guaranteeing airline passenger safety 
has never been fully assessed. Air travel is so inherently unsafe (...if God 
wanted man to fly, especially at or near the speed of sound...) that government 
is using taxpayers' money to subsidize airline industry by installing new air 
traffic radars and conduct research (i.e. NASA) to increase air safety.
     
3. No satisfactory method has been found to guarantee safe operation of air 
planes in the event of employee negligence or sabotage.
     
And so on. I'm sure you all could expand on the subject.  We all have been 
reading and watching news of tragic airline accidents around the world, but it 
has not stopped people from traveling by air. I'm quite certain many of the 
anti-nukes travel by air to their protest marches. If the same level of safety 
criteria applied to non-Soviet era nuclear power plants are applied to airlines,
chances are that all air travel would have been banned years ago (and anti-nukes
would have to walk to their protest sites). Bottom line is as often stated, 
there is no guarantee in life. I, for one, am very glad for the conveniences 
provided by the modern technologies, and I am willing to pay for it. If not for 
the modern technologies, statistically I would have died years ago, sick 
(probably with sore feet), malnourished, and with all my teeth rotted away.
     
Tosh Ushino
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station 
ushinot@songs.sce.com