Foundation funding -Reply

[MICHAEL S FORD <MFORD@pantex.com>]

>>> <Egoitein@aol.com wrote on  Sat 1 Aug 98  15:32 >>>

Dear Ms Weiner,  

You must be aware that almost all DOE facilities have contaminated
the environment.  Hanford, INEL, Rocky Flats, Livermore, Los
Alamos, West Valley, etc.  Unfortunately only too few groups are
able to monitor and prevent DOE's carelessness. 

Does it not seem reasonable that citizen organizations need
support from foundations to protect our environment, groundwater,
etc.   The government has not been able to do it.   Taxpayers are
spending billions of dollars to try and contain the mess.   

In my opinion, citizen groups, using their own time and resources
to prevent further contamination should be applauded and
supported instead of demonizing them.   Why would you feel this
hostility towards foundations that support these groups?  Aren't
they protecting the water/air/food on which all living things
depend?  Are you not also concerned about environmental
degradation?

Respectfully,

Ernest Goitein
egoitein@aol.com

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dear Ernest and RADSAFERs,

I would like to take a rare moment and DEFEND the Department of
Energy.  I do so while making the acknowledgment that I earn a
living working for a government contractor (Battelle Memorial
Institute).  However, I neither speak for the DOE nor BMI, nor do
these statements imply an endorsement on their part concerning
anything I say.  I would also like to apologize to those who might
find this non-entirely rad thread to be off-topic. With that said...

Yes, DOE facilities in the U.S. have contaminated the environment. 
For instance, if you look at a map of the Savannah River Site in
South Carolina, the *tail* on the south end of the site (Lower Three
Runs Creek) was purchased by the government after a release from
one of the reactors contaminated it.

But how did things get that way?  Some of the old timers in the
DOE complex will tell you that in the 70's and 80's, there was very
much a mentality of production over safety.  But if you look back to
the 50's and 60's, it was not production over safety, it was very
much a matter of *survival* over safety.

Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, fallout shelters, air raid drills,
public service announcements on what to do if you see a blast
from a nuke?  ('like you could really do much?)  Remember Nikita
Kruschev taking off his shoe and slamming it on the table to
demonstrate how the USSR would *crush* the US?  This guy had
the keys AND the codes!!

This was the Cold War.  It was MAD.  AND it exacted a toll on the
U.S., but it exacted a heavier toll on the *former* USSR.  Due to the
dedicated efforts of literally tens of thousands of people that worked
in the AEC/DOE, we are all here and have not been vaporized.  The
US won the Cold War and we're still recovering from its effects. 
One of which is environmental pollution (rad and hazardous).  Try
to remember how we got to where we are today.

Please, let's also not forget that the people who worked during that
time were more concerned about the survival of the US than the
immediate protection of environment.  In that sense, the ends
justified the means.  Surely we would do things differently today,
but that is the benefit of hindsight.  The AEC/DOE saved our
collective backsides so that we can sit here today and take pot
shots at them and say what evil people they are?  What ingrates!

Many RADSAFERs are actively involved in the D&D/ER efforts
throughout the DOE complex.  Many others are involved in the
*swords to energy* process of making weapons grade plutonium
usable in commercial power reactors.  It's easy to talk about *the
government* as some evil and mysterious entity.  But don't forget
that the individuals within the government are now both civilly and
criminally liable for the violation of US laws.  What's more important
is the support that you find in DOE today of both DOE officials and
contractor management in the identification and mitigation of safety
and environmental concerns.

I extend my sincerest gratitude to the dedicate efforts of the many in
the AEC/DOE that worked to ensure the safety and security of the
U.S. while acknowledging that the environmental contamination
that did occur is a small price to pay -- considering the alternative.

They've ensured that we have the freedom to be ingrates and
revisionists!

v/r
Michael
*************************
Michael S. Ford, CHP
Texas Radiation Advisory Board
Address:
Radiation Safety Department
Battelle Pantex
Amarillo, TX
806.477.5727 phone
806.477.4198 fax
mford@pantex.com
*************************

Question:  Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
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