Japan

[Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

Radsafers,

I recently wrote that people get slowly tired of the nearly everyday horror
stories about nuclear power, radiation, irradiation etc. in the mass media.

I am happy to tell you that the accident at Tokai in Japan did not make it
to front pages even in the worst daily newspapers in Austria and that the
message, that plutonium might have escaped was found in my newspaper today
on page 12, consisting of three lines plus headline. I have not heard
anything in the news of Austrian TV since days. 

When the transport of the CASTOR containers had reached their final
destination, I have not read or seen a single contribution about it in the
papers or on TV. Serious journalists described the scenery as a kind of
carneval, because most protesters regarded their protesting as big fun. I am
convinced that after the next 5 transports hardly anybody will protest any
more. 


The riots in Albania, the postponement of the Jeltsin-Clinton summit, the
bad economical situation in Austria, unemployment, the death of Fred
Zinnemann and Victor Vasarely, the conflict in Israel - this is today on our
front pages and not the hysteric reactions, horror stories and exaggerations
of some private groups, who never have been legitimated by any democratic
process even to pretend to save us from the evil......

I hope the reaction in other countries was similar. Then there is hope that
some day it will be possible to talk about topics like nuclear power,
recycling and repositories with scientific arguments.


Franz
Schoenhofer
Habichergasse 31/7
A-1160 WIEN
AUSTRIA/EUROPE
Tel./Fax:	+43-1-4955308
Tel.:		+43-664-3380333
e-mail:		schoenho@via.at