I have read on Rick's industry overview that he does not think that meltdown is much of a possibility or anything to spend a lot of time worrying about. But in the latest postings on nukes regarding the NRC getting lax with their regulations and forgetting their real mission, everyone is saying that they should be concerned about PUBLIC SAFETY(so far as it relates to nuke operation).

I am very much a novice in understanding most of this, so I am wondering what the safety concerns are that are being spoken of. Should I start worrying about the potential for meltdown suddenly being dramatically increased? If meltdown is not the main safety concern, then what is? Are there other scenarios in which large amounts of hazardous material or radiation could be leaked out and put the public at risk? I really don't know what to think.

Thanks,

-- Anonymous, June 19, 1999

Answers

Jim,

Thanks for posing this question. I was wondering the same thing.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 1999

jim and linda,

click on the url listed below, this will take you to the tmi website.

this website will give you an excellent idea of why many feel that we have some serious concerns regarding the nuclear power plants.

http://www.tmia.com/croom.htm

scroll down a bit and click on the rose colored sqare titled y2k nuclear plant defects. for a real rude awakening of how a combination of errors caused a world wide event and almost wiped out south central pennsylvania click on the purple square titled the 1979 tmi nuclear accident. to evaluate the risks inherent to the populous in a nuclear meltdown click on the brown colored square titled increased cancer and leukemia after tmi. to determine current safety problems click on the blue square... you get the idea.

this website will give you more information than you ever really wanted to know about nuclear plants and their attendant deficiencies.

after you read this write to the nrc and tell them to take the damn things offline during the rollover... but they probably won't. The nuclear power industry is a $150 billion plus industry. It costs a lot of cash to keep a nuke plant offline even for one day... and that is what this is all about... money.

and to think that the french peasants lobbed off marie antoinettes head for a lot less than this... i wonder what is going to happen to these clowns?

-- Anonymous, June 19, 1999

Marianne,

You are amazing. What a great site! Didn't know about it but will spend some time there advancing my education. Thanks. Another site that deals with electric power along with other infrastructure issues and is kind of fun to tinker with is the Circle of Dominoes Engine:

www.y2knewswire.com/Y2kengine.htm

-- Anonymous, June 20, 1999

Thanks for that information, now I am really disturbed.

So..... should I assume that when Rick wrote what he did about the Nukes in the INDUSTRY OVERVIEW section of this site, he was optimistic because he believed that the NRC would live up to its mission, and shut down the nukes if they are not totally ready?

I have another question too, and here I will sound more like a scared fourth-grader than a grown man. I live at least three hours away from the nearest nuclear plant, am I any safer because of this? How far away do you have to be to decrease, let alone eliminate, your risk of major radiation exposure?

Thanks,

-- Anonymous, June 20, 1999

gordon,

thanks, but i believe snow leopard turned me onto the site. i should have known about it but i am ashamed to say that i didn't. the tmi awareness group is one of the best in the country regarding nuclear power.

i lived here and i was involved locally in protesting the decision to allow the plant to remain active... then i moved to another state... both mentally and physically.

that is what 'they' depend on... the short memories of the public. it is legendary, keep them fat and happy.

scott portzline and the rest of the people involved took on the task of becoming watchdogs for the whole human race while we played. it is sad that we don't acknowledge and appreciate the people who worked the front lines... we didn't even know there was a war.

now here we are again and this time the ramifications could be more disastrous then we ever imagined.

i'm listening to dylan playing in my head and i think what the hell happened to me? how did i ever become so complacent. well, this isn't just south central pa or the northeast... we are talking global.

i feel that we must make a concerted effort to let the nrc and the present administration know that the nukes must be turned off for the rollover and be brought back up in groups of three or four. let the government subsidize this nightmare. if we can send billions everywhere else we can pay the nukes to stay offline.

when the fdic attempted to foist the 'know your customer' routine on the banks they backed off due to the public outcry... we can do the same to the nukes if the people become aware. now is the time to start for when the panic hits this information should be ready and waiting. the public mus be allowed to make an informed decision and realize the ramifications of allowing the nukes to remain online.

sound impossible? stranger things have happened...

Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'. For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn The curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'.

then again some things never change.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 1999

jim,

i can't answer for rick. but i blieve that he is an upfront kind of guy who anticipated that the nrc would do what the nrc was designed to do... regulate the safety of the nukes. it seems at this point that they are more worried about keeping the lights on.

as for your second questions regarding your distance from the closest nuke i believe the answer lies in which way the wind is blowing and how hard.

check out my post from today regarding potassium iodide, this is one of the things that may be done in order to mitigate damage. it is titled:

the bumbling bureaucrats or the dregs of the disinformation derby.

http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000yna

there are no easy answers and it is not a certainty that one will go down... i just feel that the risks far outweigh the benefits of having them on-line in such a tumultuous time.

during the tmi debacle my family went down to my brothers in bethesda; as we found out later it probably wasn't far enough.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 1999

You should check out the following article:

http://www.y2knewswire.com/19990621hu.htm

Very interesting look at TMI and the NRC with context to recent announcements.

Jon

-- Anonymous, June 21, 1999