RE: NRC scraps commercial nuclear power terrorism program

["Bult, James" <james.bult@msfc.nasa.gov>]

I'm personally glad to hear it.  There's a lot of better ways to waste tax
dollars, and I'd rather not see the costs in the rate base either.

Face it, paranoia has killed the nuclear industry in this country, and it's
apparently doing the same thing in parts of Europe.

A lot of good people have gotten out of the nuclear industry because among
other things, the security aspect is an unending pain in the a--.  The last
thing the industry needs is another witchhunt.

I asked a nuclear security official one time why the security program was so
elaborate.  The response was,  "We need to make sure terrorists don't get
ahold of the plutonium".

Wake up, Chernobyl was an old graphite moderated monster, not a U.S.
licensed commercial light water reactor, and if some third world zealot can
snatch a spent fuel bundle out of the pool, stick it under his arm, and
carry it out the gate, a few more rent-a-cops and pencil pushers aren't
going to be able to do as much as hurt his feelings.

To borrow a quote from a comedian who probably couldn't pass the drug
screen, "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong".

Jim Bult
NASA MSFC RSO
james.bult@nasa.msfc.gov 

> ----------
> From: 	Sandy Perle[SMTP:sandyfl@earthlink.net]
> Reply To: 	radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> Sent: 	Tuesday, November 03, 1998 12:18 PM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	NRC scraps commercial nuclear power terrorism program
> 
> Tuesday November 3 6:44 AM EDT 
> 
> LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal counter-terrorism program 
> designed to identify security lapses at commercial nuclear power 
> plants has been scrapped and budget cuts are partly to blame, the 
> Los Angeles Times reported today.  
> 
> 
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