ML19275B085
| ML19275B085 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Three Mile Island  |
| Issue date: | 04/28/1975 |
| From: | Schweiker R SENATE |
| To: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19275B084 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7911080693 | |
| Download: ML19275B085 (24) | |
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Respectfully referred to: O Because of the desire of this office to be responsive to all inquiries and co==unications, your consideration of the attached is requested. Your findings and vir.ws, in duplicate form, along with retern of the enclosure, will be appreciated by
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U.S.S. Form #2 '
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Senator Richard Schweiker #
% Russ Mack U.S. Capitol Bldg. /t Washington, D.C. 20510 . ,' --
April 13,1975 ...
Dear Senator:
This is a follow up of our conversation of April 11, 1975, in regard to the Nuclear Power Station at Three Mlle Island. On April 5, 1975 i noticed that the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant had ceased operating. I waited three days expecting some explanation in our local paper as to the nature of the shut down. When no word was forthecming, I phoned the York Dai ly Record. It is now April 9. The newspaper informed me a news confer-ence had been called within the hour. i'The Power Company related two reasons for a four day shut down. 1. A two hour radiation emergency drill involving 75 Met. Edison Company employees and more than 50 construction workers. This drill is required once a year as a condition for licensing. 2. The four day shut down was due to a maintenance problem that
]involvedreplacementofanauxiliarymotor.
Mr. Walter _ S. Poych, Coordinator of Services said, "The likelihood of such a nuclear accident is highly remote but the technical possib]Ilty that exists requires periodic drills in the interest of readiness and preparation." What are the technical possibilities that exist? What preparation? If these nuclear power stations are as safe as tha power companies would have us believe, and they certainly are constantly reassuring us that there is no danger, then why all the precautions? When the Power Ccepany begins to speak in terms of evacua-tion by nearby residents in the event of a nuclear accident as they did in this recent news conference, that's when it's time to start evacuating all nuclear plants out of the Ccmmonwealth of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, it insults the intelligence of every citizen to expect us to swallow such a conflicting story. i The Power Ccmpany informed the press that they would begin operaticns on Wednes-
, day, Apri l 9. True to their word the towers began emanating steam Thursday i morning. However, by noon it began to dissipate and by midafterncon there .vas
; no discernible evidence that it was operating at all. It is new April 13 and there is still no sign that they have resumed cperations. What could possibily require the Pcwer Company to close down their plant for this length of time un-less it was of a sericus nature.
It becomes increasingly clear that the Power Ocmpany has been'less than candid
. In its reports regarding the operation of these nuclear plants. There is tco much at stake for our Representatives to ignore the pcssibility of a cover up.
From first hand epignep's,'sh ht!ves of the Power Company.1 ~rn g ify that evasive e weapon of some of tMM .f Nuc'Rdbf.tacto:- nr
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.m Square!y a the anter et d:oactM tes'erial as it rm <
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tho' Wt 19e Va"ey's subut- through 'rd carries.it 1: 3. 1 . ban brawl an abandoned wa other waters. ' s tere scme '
. , ter tower
- and smokes.acUt:ealth cf!!cials's.ty it tr L -
rise frcm a Ifoacre.no n an's ready af'ectu g old!;fe.
* !ani! of crnsted crt and tun . Dr. Harry Gibbess* cf ce ' '
burst needa . * 'e 1 y<ounty ' bes.th ' depart , The ersa tis an eyesore: .!! ment, which o de-ed the cen-: foots teore stert;e than men- struct:en moratcrium aro.:d seing, [ - . the site, says the rad.aton s
- But unde riesth the tcrsh'e emanat.r.g freut .the . Am; ;
seed a d "Mtf* *t radroad can cause cancer and leu-t t.es he an estimat.ed J 64 n .L kem.a. ll Lcs tons of ratca"Te t. l. 7:t is a 55:ar3 which cocid
,1::::f"~Tashr+s desc r**d tv in rnany years ame cer ain.y '
emCff~'olc:als as -!etrai* .be lecal to persons in the and a t.me bomb in the co'n- area." he sa2d. m .- .
- munity". of taJ ,mt11ic3 He said tha federat govern-shich surrounds the:n. . .rrect is "trymg to study it to Me &fcot#eep mou:s! .cf death to detertnire how far"
, talhnzs was left behind when N 'daSger extends. '
i ' the Vitto Chemical Co. closed Gibbons says tt'e ta:!nps up sSep in fte late 1980s, after have to be moved, and t'ta e.5-for the timated ccst tus as 1:gh as :
! , produc.cg. uramum durirg 3' mil; ion.
federal government ., 't the post-war boom. '*! doubt the sta a wo !d The taJings. . the r #.!o- pick that up." he'saa!. . .
. act(ve res!dae 1e't after the Sen. Frank E. Moss. D. . .
tramum is p ocessed, are Utah, in roduced a tdl etcre
'. sti3 there because they are. t.%an a year ago that wou:d the center..of. a classic b* have al! owed t':e Ato<c d
reaucrate dennybrock: E v- Ener;y Commiss:en 'to ' pay cryone agr6cs they are highly up to 73 per cent of the cost o!
. dangerous but .r.o c.:e wants movtn3 the. d.:n p.
- to pay for ret.trali ng them. h a h Wem De . land tr et: ally en M cing -s u h closed with mm. foot cha.n b.:I /*.dored en AEC and En-link fence, s .4 posted haphaf v'rmmental Protect.cn Aten-
, arCy agamst tr-spass. .t cy proposal that act en be d.-
, ts, at least nom!nally, off !!* lared untJ a study was ccm--
Its so e ghtseers, a-d no new
' corstrurt:o's is permitted , aroand pleted of all such dun ;s the count y and of
- t. dry d fumped en'
{ top of the tsikrgs is crtss-I -
; c essed w:tti theel rtts a.d The AEC saf tn Septe-ber foot.trads, and the toner and h.nds may not to avada3:e to I t smckestack' are emblaza-ed comp:ete that s'ucy.
J w.*h graff:tt. ., . ."It doasn't seert that ths V A. freeway runs, along the, AEC is anx:ots to 43 any-darnp's east side, a h:chsay thing.- a spckesman for
. along the south and a s: ream Moss' o'fice . sa:d. "They're jneanders through it and og dragptg both feet.", ,
to the Jo dan River ar'd the Mess c:atms thehitm drp/
- g:aat Sa:t Laka Eximni. !S ariferent from et'er ta.i-tnisirtsses contatte as ssaalF :rgs pdes fn the count y te-
, . s'e:g !!s panmeter. cause it is endange :ng a
. The dump e n;ts raden gas. . come umry_of ha;f a miTh
/shich haar.s on dust part.c:es He says it ceservts to and is biown arou'id the val- -
. le% by it e desert mud. Mer.;"The , ity.feden! governme::t ts
- toring has documented the grossly ne;hreat in fo'hwea
. gas - and abhs., beta and up a heakh tarsrd cey had a gar' n'a rad.atml - m nef- hand in creatng " Gibacs borms h.ide at as tric3 said. .
as" $3 t::nes the *edera ;y es- Dr. Richard E. Kenner cf
. tabl ished maximum leve!s. the Utsh Stats! Mecira. Asto-
_ ciation has called the k*-o
e e -- A
' sump *a tr.* oomo in t e f
commur.:ty" which mus!, te i . defused before it goes o!!-
* ,, i Moss says the d.mp Ls j *!etgal" He and Rep. Waymr
'Vw e a s, D.Uuth, sto an-
, trodred Moss' biit in t'e
, j House, say the federal gov. -
i ernment admitted a moral ri-g
,spons.Mty to neutrah:e ts- - .dioactmr dumps when a pod j ,
part of the cost of a s.mdar
. pro'ect in Gracd Junction. .
Co.a 4
- But, a Mass aide sa.d. ee -
entire Vitro project is r.cw
" hanging fire" shde the AEC determines whether it has ce -
money to cortple:e its s:udy,, and shether it sants to spen.1: (t * , '. p h*.*.Theyte mt . move ss darr.
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- Sta'f Wnter t , e, a
,7,,'. " 'ror sc'sent!sts Jwho hake' a e cancerncJ er.:4;h I' t .r.
. S i e t e r - Rosa!!e Eertef! '
,dotaa't'2!:k energy.indepen-
/(des trymg.to 40 studles en they .cas. carry c:re y.re:
' the effects cf raiatos from. pas tM atomy." ~~
11ecce for the tJnned States le . -
, suMic health records, data cf- f
,oud. a podd i ea$ ; . . '; - 7-/8 i '
v She'd1Ae to see a litt:e my - 4tg .s.Emited. she sa,ms.~ ~ > . taal depende.-ee .w.th ce ,
- - . ., sist,, 3,n,:3 goce, og t3,;
- 0 t itroduc.::: = catntnes.' .
jet,tg.g 3.ucn-g ce d'ects i I
, amotg- om .1.- _ .g g.7,3 rai: tics. on 5.G I
j g A senior cancer research t . cancer panents aad 5.40 = ettentst at Ro we.1 Park I.te
.cncrial Hos;xtal Bu'falo, and -
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" cat ols* b a g't','..p used m dompad46 3e ca :cer ynember of the Grey Nuns of N s patientsb 4:n New Ycrk (et-the Sacred 1-eart Mr more -- '% clesrve of hev Y o rk City)..
than 20 years, Sister Eenell g baltimore ar4 Mir.resota.. s was in Harnsburt yes:erday f \. . e. , h sq 3 led M p-lto speal; at a meetirg a the. [ ' - n2ced v . , -' . v ~
.. YWCA, Fairn a-i.Xa! nut { " mowever,, litt!e . citirdy is
,$ts., ryrored by Cuens for. . , aram !# study ct ce d-
& Safe Envurment. Her top \- f l r power ra6
',40 m'as Nhy Have 4 P.tsra:o
, fects g , og. . talc ea4 g g gg
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"# 5 g ., ,- while,carly reports based en i 'S:ste'r Be-ta we'.its l'he to 's t, been entcized tecause tney hat cQ::stmct:os r.::c!c a r * '
- are. inadeqca;e, n> coe has Per p'aca ca ,0f a' ut! .prweed mcney for o thor-
- scet!.s:s can 43 some thor ',
' pueh hea:th s'ates about the' W W V'"I* m^ .' ^
_ effects of rataben frors the
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. . 315TER ' EIRTELL; ** Sister Bertell thicks n,orst-
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,y .$ !!y also is an issue la de!ayteg M' 'e're energy-w se n.itir.i ttientists developed 'Eodet. ccestact.on ** pf we p&
es top of the wadd/* she saA fuc! . sources - ff they knew Po*" 9: ants.
*in aa hierv.ew yesarday..the facts escut nuclear pee - I'I"23of. 355#5 'I' O' ~8"U
mmah %ch r% CAD.sion d043 our pro 2 er. 54ter Berte'.1 centendet ce ;ub:ic sho'.d .hwe. 'De,
'ress ami try /o he's the rest i cink t heald issae is money. evar 4f the st'r:1 so we dcn't, have rsyssed.y SM sad J ,c e a c e r o !ct 2this div: sin - steh by the ma* tha' de Ammic Esq tw:etth. uhngnessand safety,'
to sact:f;ce future and- t%e'
way, causes sar - or e:se we Cornrr.mn's serrn a ' safe' f
<tas pt vp a .ma!! and have having that u want n;h>
sour'own
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co".:fortahle. exse standard tcade people tbnit . ge-erat i that as lor.: as a plant morted nas in As energy. crisis."
. 711e MS. shd tha o'lLpmduc.'. witha . that standart the-o A moratonum ot construc-a
.' ' tion of flucicar plants is in ef-Nog countr:es caa!d set up, *,""3I, "" Y'48#' ,
thnt wa
- 7 say, that fett in, New; Yorh's N;agara Lion w I"Jo:ne.L;mf of mutual. agree t.fnect.that I'would grrermne::t 'ad:nft some eff'.cfais heard any. lew w she .sasi "k Co
- bl - our r emnerabil.ty."' she, cause . harrn,"
' thr.k we ceed a lot more data f testmany ce tra 1ssue.' -
> said.;"7.'e're act ledependent
= c! the modi"s
' . C to say how much of a risk we it was testfying - before 6.ocer countrieWecent on, sant to take. The AEC ca'.Is Mapra. County cificials cat
. tbs (f.5. for rood sa;'pues. she their .' (rad.auca stacdartu 'maca ber.* vocal
- about the a sa:d.1.tr rwe don't want a level.tte /jonestr pract;caMe' nuclear power issuf, she sai "mutaa2y dc;cndes:r sys:e::s- a:nountJ. pew don't jay .N. - .s g y . g. -
{ aa t'.e s arid." v * ' ,;
. a safe."' ' . .* r . . .t'saw the types cf Decep-t.;,*. * .,**%: - ,. , g g , t .',
Studies 'of . ce' effects' made wh:ca of tonhstadg on, s.w dot.'>1e statemerE W Sis:'er terteff, sh2 said she?
' n was sseauag as as indirdual raiat:cn in.the ;ast have Ih mesmngs, saw the way ci:a- a..
v rand c)t on taha:t ef.co Ecs cased om workers in nadear eeg acton
, ., tres!ed and gaanctpsdewerecmey be: ben 4 ; ! fire
- eir:14 a 3 Park bespaal, said she. psanators, she sant -rather taAe the:nst" . .They - da z
- t. of dorrucat os by the 01-pro , perses who drcps out of de power cornpan.es" she saii labor force or te nporary - "And underneath it a!!. I i be rg 'couctrics , *,'than puts saw some real'heak!! ismes a
s.e car present course of hem 2' he!Pr nd there is to follcw-upwidt the ia:ndy," sk saA . wkch 'were i 5fndependent< a a d surring u;7 wi:5 radi- ' W:e powet.compan2es re-
'more . Battei a:1 proba9y . "Fre:n - worlung I heading for ~ the:., course of at;ca. that's where the daw 1 esse ir.for:r:stio t on hos .
+trar " ^ ' t ;, ' * . age is gang to show 'u;> ~ sia c m'u c h raiato:t is bets;
- spreat over' a 'certain area
.... Americans wQuid be til!!ng the off3Pr:ng."
, -~.
Jt# .sacnfice .aad corsette... Leukemia as ope.cf the f rst. surr unding .a nuclear plant. Ne'gy.c.rring r a nuc'. car pow , diseases' that results ,-frc:n . hey t.4 cct ittcate,that rai.I atten concentra es in the focu
'e ,er plan ( ctoratorzurry
* ' " ** .s. '. e.M ,,, A r- t;q' Je .-l"'rada:;on
.,.... ' exposare, she,said..n. - chain a-d.in the hrr.ta t:rj.
troa g;ar.1 sre s24 ; s
. There.is,a lot of money tted
. ~, r c.
. It'D3, she said, a:td the 23 Clear,
'pcwcr business 's:ards to trae
,l !
',e loe ititQ aQs03.ouf '-
p g . 50 4 e.
A Mn: 9s- m a m m .w m aam
%%nf&' $'mp ,R ; .. Says Systems Need Testing 4- ~
L Expert Scores 1 -Mant 3isks He 54s "it would not be bresk, for example - the taally happening. This has 1
! 8"J%lMZ W8.***
- WASHINGTON - TSe na. Imprudent" to consider clos- core could get so hot it would not tleen done suff;ciently yet j
ten is plung:ng headlors into mg down all
- nuclear plants melt its metal claddmg and to jusufy large-scale nuclear ,
an storme generation or elec. until enouth research is con. rMease rad.oactive gases. budding, he adds. ,; trle power without really un. ducted to prove tre**!reliabit.ty don't W o r s e consewn have He sa;d the AEC's attitude i derstand:ng the nsks in. of safety systems thmk that 2 la socaally irres been predicted by son was to approve nuc!est de. volved. according to one of the Atomic Energy Commis. ponsible to ask that we have To prevent this, plants etN emergency are signs and then try to get the , such assarances of safety be. desig*ed sion's fAEC) former icy saf. fore se go ahead and con. coohrg sys: ems. ety experts. sa me awe was u vract large number of nucte. Hocevar says there are two let s see if Ws tMg sMs/ Carl J. Hocevar is the au. ways to teet d such a system thor of one of the AEC's bas.c ar reactors." he says. Hocnar mamtams. safety analysis meihods and De Washingten area is is effectne: build a nuclear fmd a way to OK it.,",h, t ht's an ereert in the workmns of a bracketed by me lear i ut lity plant. cut off its coolant and He doesn't thmk AEC and nuclear plant's hear
- 6ts ra- construct * . Poromac Etee. check the results.
has eever been doneSo faron.a this indastry officials a e dehber. dioactive core. Ife 'bles the tnc Power Co. has two plants ately trying to endanter rhe thistle
- last mon:. leaving planted in Charles Coun:y, lar;;e scale. public. He sees the problem the ageney's Idaho T.uts re. Baltimore Gas & Elerinc is or the condit ons teside a as a rnauer of bask cre search center with a blast at latilding two more not far reactor taa be simulated in a entat. ort its attteude toward sa&y. away and Virgm a Electric & computer and the system "I thinic trost of the eng.
The basic danger. Ilusevar Power Co. has echt nuclear res:ed mathemarwally. These says, is that the ACC 13 ap. plants operating u9 der are con. called," were computer codes." Ns specialty mu:hasthought they rlcers invohed haven to the quasten proving nurtear power plan:s struction or planned. of safety and soaat coa. near heavily popula'ed are:s in a tonvsatenal plant. at toaho In an Fa!!s. inter"iew. Thursday, acquences. I knoe - I was m without ever anually havia* coat. o1 or gas is burned to tne same boat for a shite, tested the elaborate systems produce steam which spms a the 34-year.old engineer de. Enceers as a sho e have a designed to present the re. turbine gewenng generator. scr: bed h:s mafor concems. In a nuclear p! ant, con- " 4f :he present sta:e of the tenecy only to sorry about lease of b. armful raho- he said "Yois cannot soivmg equations and bu.M. activny. trolled fission m the atomic a rt." The AEC and the nuticar core proudes the heat. Water futly descrie the p;ivskat outine ptrmps thnkmg and the about thecon. !ke we.
. Industry contstently hase is used to absorb the heat and phenomera tnt are occunng maintamed that the plants pro.ade s: cam for the gener. (in an atomic core) Surely seqmtes." Herevar is now working for are safe under a;l but the ator. ma!hematica!!y.
most freakish of circum- The saier also is needed to it is neressary, he said. to the Boston-based Urron cf stances. Hocevar sa>s not prevent the core from gettag keep testmg the codes a;ainst Concerned soeEs:s. unw-enough is known to olier sach too hat. If the water was lost happemags m real Ide tmt:1 ?Is oppse3 ex:e assurances.
- If a major pipe irere to they cart predict that is ac- ar budd:cg programs, f ! hBk 0 .
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frons carrymg out'the r me. Y * ' "" Y, * # . shat mihht be acccot'able fer'ow m!gh; date to the cit:zess cf the Co .
.(Edcort ,
. cause let.kemia m awner. _ .
,, mons ea'th. ~- . _ _ . .
g A CAna.I UL RINIEW at the fetter - Unfortunately. arottrary exposure . ,-Vir2 ala$outbard.Chaarman,
, . frc.11 Thorn a Gerusry. Pennsylvama '.s . letels covoled with the mcomp tete cal. . Clitens fer a 5afe Er.vircrac3t.'
^ Departmea / of Environmental Re. ,,
s' soerces'J ' rector of Radiologiest .cgianon standards preclude Mr Ge ,, , , ,fiarrispurg ,, , , , " "
+ 11ealth; m ri 'erence to the Three Mde - '.' rusty and the
. . Bureau . u of w Radiolog:
.. - - - cal.',. 1~,, g
.s. sitacd enm nwear po.er mant. i ~*
*dkates that he f.aaled to mention specif. *l g
gM le points which the cit 2ensof this ares .r M abould know concermns the actual and
- l 4
- potennaldangers associated withT&f L' ' " ,
(* True. radioactivity is aos released . *
;, through the cochog toeers flowever.-
,7. tadioactive gases are re! eased on a <
reg'.Jarbasis from thereactot eusidu:g. c the fuel'handhng buildans and other auxillary buildar.gs.This occurs edher,
's %e a planned release bas 6a er through '
/s aboermaloccurreoces such as recefitly
* '. occurred atp3 three tunes m atlun one
. ,een.
t ,We point out th'at the interaction be-tween the coolinit tower plumes ar.d the *
"kaseos releases of radioactavity was '
- not fully consdered when radloactive A lodine emtssion hmits were set 'or the plant.The mitt samplina frequency is dependent upon a calculated espected e,'* radioactive nocLce leve6 ehich does not '
take into account the anteractioit, of
- ecoling tower plutnes and gaseous re-
,i lenses.The AEC has admitted they are g enty now atten*pt ng to calculate ins
,(combined interaction effect ter deter.
, , sninies radioactive todme levels for
.* Tht!. This of fort is comoucated by the N latte number of uncertamtics to be caj .
g culated. Steanwhile, the piant cuotta-q' vs to cperate and momterms is based '
,,, ,up a incorn plete data, at best.
Mr. Gerus.:y states that ore of his
,".'t'uties is to protect us from unnecessary expcsure to radioactiuty.S.nce the lev.
- els co'scermng exposacs are set by i ' AEC.s bach has a vested eterest m no-
. clear power. at is vuod to quesuon the wealled ;' safe levHs of esposure. In
*' addition. dosesuscepubdtty is knowe ..
&Jo v,ary from one peIson to another; w '.
m
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) .NticlearEnergyd W, . Dan ~ge.rs .
Ci:ed.~:. ,4
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e- TOR THE PASTYEAR the - M harrtsturg Pator a:1 Eve .'. [ g,. cirg News have taes strM ,; e e .folchreattepubiconther':o- '
.-ject cf nuclear power,for .
)
, . energy ardits hantda. I j y; 1.kr cc.e,hn e heJ t': se n artic!cs not c:If it. forma:a i
?
'J* i.talso ah. m. g. .. .;
8 *
,b,.,Despite atte:: pts by theencsy!;;:sta Department cf'
. Enviros. ie:!st Resources; e ADER) and the Atomic -
Ener;;yCc nmisun(AEC)'.3 rpassare the pubLc c3 the *, 4 Eafe:yof nut!*arpaser3r :is
. use.' the endence -is c7er.
.,',whc!mitig that n;aless tb3 American peop;e vigarcus y
. pro:est a;;ainst the.use of
* .atortic power to ,soi.e our .'.emergy problems now,it sC1 -
make our prefect-day pn!> ,
- i. tion prob! cms lock 11e a Sea.
. daySchoolrien:c. . ..
. ' Dr. Har.mes Mfres. Notel -
/L1ureate in Physics. wri:t g lia May.17 2 is::e of Tto Eul-
lerm of l'te Atomic Scie:Usts 4 said,"F _ics enrrrr !$ sa:e
. .c-Jyif a ern::ct of creical G-F vices sors as t ey sacu;d: Il y there is no sabotage t,r h..;-
, Jacbngcf tr:nspcrts;if ra c. -
actor-tlc! processrg ;.rt cc
. ,reprotes,ang piatt cr re-o.
i t!s tory a :pt.ere in toe scr!1
,' ,is sittsted 13 a rer.!]n cl r.r.ts v ,cr gcerni;a actiny;1f c3 rn.
s .%ventional clutf03one-tates or sar-esen p; aceait cr.
*
- these regtor.s. The ecort-ms y quantity of extremely cas-i , gerous matenal rust cet ;;.i
. icte the'hafids cf it" ort. t
- d people er cesperac es. N2 s acts of Gc1 cas- be per.
. , mitted. 0:e doe a't t.m:13 .
i be a scienust to compreted . 6 ': ate dacprs and thy pstf aJ3 c! this messa;;e. *
' , Now Ilertert S. D'enchcrt *
. nil!becomeanitiMgralpsttcf (
.; the Pub;ictt.hry Cendu "
. Jtos. Mr. Eccer. berg, wame
' 3ame is nevr a housre:1 r word.isvigorouslyc;;csewta
,1210 pro 1Jera: ion cf rec;cr I f power s:r.tiens for e:crgy.. a
'. Governor Sts;p is to be ca;n. * ;
mended for his choice. It / adoesn't come any too soca.. . ' '
'S ' There are many I'terna-
'tives to the ener y pest;ert - -
's that are cleaner less deacy ' -
Cand more econcrtical Saiar - ~ g ,ericrgy, wh;ch tr.is newspaper . i described in deta.l. geother- * *
. ' mal energy and %;nd energy.
. i';No doubt tacre are more ! s e
- c would put our technology to , ,
- wort expturing the possi. . -
' bilities.
Onfy the America't peo;le .
can bneg a halt ts the irres ,
,7 ponstbstity of perpetua+.2ng tne -
dangerof mcremaculacu. red '
. plutonium '.J3. Nuther the
' DER nor the AEC obvmas!y hasplanstadono. . 4> \
.'-Jane L.Domehue, (*~ .
- p,' Etters
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.x . .-. w w m : y ; w y y.;.=.y .;.. T'acse 'camsters 3ould(be 'Jevel' railigactive vasty basiIncluding sev By PETER
; Newhouss 'J.' BERN5HI?( j mission he'es Serdce I UEC) will bolJ a putra turctica, and disposal in deep' pletely. De camsters thcrg a. Tong-term sa W ASillNGT0!( .5 Aton'tc . Tliursday, to 'cidishfer , poten
- by muctcar .. explosions.f to ;by .thef salt w!!hh{ "a ,short tt4 the, storage facG!ty at one tute shieMs and placed w!Lh -abte . ^
, Consequently. .the ;of three teactor test sites ;- in it ,well-guarded AECJn- put plu'omu:n tr ths key fv.>t. .~ The llnlos of Conterned ?
eurgy offWiels are to a gaare"tial_ sites forbsposing of plu name a few. For the 'tirne .tl m e. r o gruy over bow l ta deposek.tonium and other ,highty ra ,teing
- the AEC, is weythmg chance of ever tetriemg the in !Je'vada". Idaha or Osting istal:ation. .One reasovi~for
/gaards ts that plutontuiti can' actor riew la the derefopmenP ar ' development, bas' s uf ty' of plutontunt 2'O. the d:o.ctwp wastt.s. 'At a hear ' two afternatives: burymg spe . wastes would be- lost, ard ton ,,
J1 0 m/e ' disposat* technique ,be used to construct a nuclear stige, and its whicspread ne the're Js' no Ocquate ' sat es.tremeh rad:o.ictive , and 'ing two seeks' ago in fash- wasses 'dcep' undpr,;round in .with tt the ability 10 cope**with. ,
) Les phead. f progrrra l'a eahtence to 4
.be eg considered by* the, AEC ' weapon. . * . . . .
denSy' shstanre kit" over. Inpon, envignm.cntalists urg natural salt depoJts/or err unforesee6. problems. ;d sur.solidtfytng the Involves he ' frrun 'suclear tiwef prdi sc- fd. the ALC. to suspend aft' capsulating them in, ,$urface ,' Holdirig the wastes I burned plutonium and tra' un- ; rurrciitly tenhmi ta being 'm'est stored tem of fort theon~t'po .. Despite the part of the AEt
- a great I!eal of ef.' .
*I""
/
g
, q nue. lear power development. aturage r facilities. 7 face f actht eg sould pep t nam wastes from rtuc? car
- Some ***"*"sts s<ienti 11Le C' c'o
,*- ,* iuntil a soh.tsnn to the waste. .The seit dtpost:s are in I -# fact. reprocessing phants and rap at a conimWal,gro and . the nurfrar .,powtr la- Wald Nobel Prue a
, Because plutonium ts 20#6 dnposal problun is found. stable, areas where ca rth- " .to M.cr sh W qaw encapsulatirig them Ja'stairi cessing plant in opstate New. dust [y to reassure the pub!!c professor of biotr . h !
thnes niore teatc than', cobra Tim volume of plutoruum is ' quakis are very infrequent. gered. ht the pnre of th s less steel can%ters. About, it - Yorit.' t'nder present rega- that po safety , hazard ettsts. .y a r d ' Umvers. yeaom. and . because In .not largu ,The d@culty 'is But dispel in salt means h ilai'onof. 0;ie rmthgram. that 'It must be isolatcJ from* the wastes would become te. 'spproach !s eternaland v!sitance carusters, to feet icog solithed 'each withinonefwe 'fcot years!gvinced. tations, it:cse' W1ule no wastes serious ac4. vnustw abea ttoany people e . disposal- rcmain pioLI. Obe si:e et a , p:nhead) .fs' the ' earth,*s. Intnh e iron
- tetriegatle after a few years.* over the Ibeir . waste stores, ensur .drameter
-immurury frs:n titly a capacity.cf about, s: and be shipped to an AEC in- aler.t .has occurred in the nu. *Where." he asked tiot I
, emgh to kill a person, within ituent, fqr . up' to a . . hon . l feat from plutomum er, c:Ld . Jng ra&oactive subs.tances , floods; earthqudes and wars, cubic feet, sould cor.tain the b stalianon for disposal
' hat ly '
- within
' ' retent10 clear 4 Al"Cpower revkw todustry.so tar a. ago
' shows Teartli the2eVisiwe thcrs a p:ste
*can guas a couple of days, nw. lear sci , years.- / h
,i
. erstats consider its dispu.al to ' Vanous maste . ' dispou!' mould cause the sait to flow . The ACC has decided .te wastes produced eacta yor by years. , y other pubhc safety 13me. stemes have been proposed plai.tnally around the stet.1 buy t!me by but: ding a tem, an a.crage.s: red.1.0uQ-mepq '$a far only small' amounts .that dartug Im therg wete t tee ; geo contatnb.g the perary s!grage facihty where. watt nuclear power plant / ac . of phitonium have bcea' pro- 861 ;* abnormal occurretices*' and pohtical stabihty for te niese important than any - .removat . to* outer space.' camsters' -- aberatfng n.'.uc.le.,ar plants, the wastes couh! b3 kept uit!! cordmg to A1:C estimates. . duced, and,p the b.uilt cl high ,at .-,-e - - - - - - m!!hons
- of yegrs?
.-. . lite
-- 7
,arona,c.ner.E.p gy Cow burial .in the icecaps of An ".w_aste, valmg tbcm off com-- ~ ~
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' OELAHOMA i p'The Atomic. Energy' Com- i ' J a II - S t ra a in a .' A E C -
j . faistion' Tuesday reported _spctesman. sa:4 enforcement .* M.ree ' floncompbances, of . acuen would le-taken by the , . {ederal regulat: ens at .an .AEC agamstKart McGee walr ; , I Oh!ahoma- . piutonism plant regardtothe uemsof ap.narent ;
,4bere a wormat bet am, nor.cc ec phance. .!
. Car.ta:niriaied and d.ed under. I Kerr *.,fcGee Nuclear Corp.'s e nlysterices circumstar.ces. pla:t along the' hanks of the'
' The AEC a:so said it had. Cimarren ~ River in Crescent. j
.' substantiated. partially ',or Okla.. has been the center of a :.,
shally,20 of 39 si!egaLets of ' Controversy surreur.6tg the ,
' safety h4rards reads by.ar.icis, p!utentum contam; nation and 'i -
* , ~. auto death el an empicye. '
.- Karen Siiavood.3. * .<
e' Ar.cther. AEC repert issued I
& McMay. said PNtomam was '!
%,added to tse ur:ce samples ~
- efter they' were taken from
,t.M;ts Silwood but before they ,i
_ Dera ana!yred- r- --* '
* .Strasma -was pressed to
', [ explain Tuesday hos t*e AEC.
- could assure the safety cf the
"" plant uhen it had rutstantiated ' ,
. the possibhty ci a cri.acaiity. ,
protle n that coi.!d lead to'an- '
#. esplosion. . ', ; . . f .',, ,; "- i r ;*.'.. Q.i '4. uo---
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2' I*"#F "#ES * -
ergen(f 6 I be handed Adm6nistratfok Nuclear nl ht' idloeira a, tourdae
'. emergency ddll lavolving 75 ' James Sectinger. supervisor . j, g g g.j ,, ,tn the Permljanta Ciud Rel;ulatory Commksson and, shu'down due to a ;-mawi-Metropolitsa Ydisen *Co. of. traimng. and Watter 5..' ci sed I>elente organisation a'e-employes and more than 50 Peyrk.courdinator ei nerveres. the slate llealth twpartment's tenans e problem trat inwide,d f 7 ur ng he drl!!s and -cordag 10 information en off- Hurenu oi lladiological llealth replitement of an auillinry 8 construciton workers was outilned the
- purpose and esplained island schrHy stle radiaten legets deser? $ tate poh e and revil lwfen e motor -
carried out early Wednesday' functions of the drdi during a , measures are maintained mined by Met Ed teams tak mg personnel also mere mvited to evenmg at th* Three Mlle Snmmute news conferenc*. P 'I A similar r adiallea Island Nuclear ' Generating %edncaday afternoon at the '"[F
, meter readings in aducent observe an(partscrpare en the emergency do!! =as staged at .
are s. e sercise Station in Susquehanna River, station'a observatwn center Mk hMkM the safe in M arch. !<4 s4: ~ neer Maddletown - Poyck stressed to nessmen Id8ad arruPants en eent of a*
, m*mths before Und I began Moedterir.g the wednesday, Met Ed spokesmen at the operatmg at full gene <sueg i
- The drill. required ence tach . the tikellbnod el surh a nucicar "8#"'I 9
- year as a condition of hcer>' ahc6Qerst is higidy remnte but 'Beth 'm e n stated . the g test for whgrh three praclece . neus conference said the capacity A se(mnd untt rosterg *,,
drifls mere staged earher were 792.000 k6tomalf Unit I $C0 millwn is scheded to .
- sing. m as described by $let Ed the technical possibility that eyacuation of residents nearby representatives of Energy generator was espected to be start prortucing asaace
' spokesman a s a
**es ilt. - e:Ists in nuclear poner is the event of an actual .Researd; and fevelopment back in operation 4ednesday kilowatta newt year, ,;
,. rn unications' es ercise'.* .generatinn requires permdic- . ce .- .
- g. ; *
' simulating on actual loss of drills in the 6nterest of.
_t
. .- . ..s4< . readinest and preparallon '
1"
'DA*Ao A
Poyrk noted there neer hat
. been an se talent of this statisre *
, g in the countrysstnce podcar *
, . power plants have been in" existence *
,, { . Seelinger said. the doll mainly invohet on sete' ac.
*l tiv6ty in uhkh Metid per-I sonnet ' esamme. plant can.
ditions to determine the degree. C,-
, of the emergency.the potential s effect of off site <*oses
- of radiation and the Institution of 3
, - l ,lmmediate steps to correct the
, problem IIe emphasszed that, *
'.tbe umts are w;ulpped to, e i 'autoipatically stIut ' dowtt irt case h leak develops, virtually
- eliminaling ,the need for
' eyacu.ttles
- . . 'and 3ther..
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;t } On Safety Questions "
y XEC Joeuments list
. , . z
'8WT3ression o:: crities
- b. n by DAVID Bt;RNHAM w we wwe m = ports on the potential reactor or g:na!!y' were leaked. .by i WASHINGTON. - Atomic hazards have emerged from AEC officials to the Union of an exammat6on by the New Concer9ed Scient.' sis, a 306-Emerg-- 'Comm:ssion (AEC) York Times of hundreds of toa. based research group that documents show dat for at memos and letters wntren by has questioned tnany coro-least the last 10 years the commission and :rdustry offi- maston policies. Others be-cQmmission 2 repeatedly has cats smce 1%4. Add.tional pought to soppress stud.es by material was found in the came availab!e as a result of Its own sc entists that found su.ts and threats of su ts un-nuclear reactor. sere more record of an obscure comm.s- der the Freedom of Informa; sten heanng in 1972.
Marinerous than ~ off;c:aily ac- tion Law by such critics gf
.koomledged.. or that raised Some of the documen:3 the corrmiss:on as David Din-questlers about reactor safe- smore Comey of the Chicago.
.ty devices. based group, Basmess and One key study, which the Profess:enal People for the Public Interest.
rommission. kept from , the public for more than seven In response to an inquiry years, found that a ma;or re- about the comm:ss:on's infor-actor accident - shou!d orie mation policies. L. Mann.ng Muntzmg, director of regu-occur - cod hait effccis htion, sa:d that "there 's no e M h:3 12 8 "&*-V*d wespog.* i
. k!!! r.g u2 h3tt agency as dedicatad to opan-persons, aj that "the EN ing up as the AEC." He con-YETje~ sne of, sga a_ c safC. ceded that there had been iEIght be equgl. to that of et " bad examples" of secre::y m gTI:e" o[Pennsy! yard" the past, but he sa;d that be-
'In' addition, the documents gmmrg "three years aga ne show that the comn ;ss on ig- created a revolutionary open-nored recommendations from ness - we may not be per-fect, but ue're a lot better."
its own scientists for Or2er research on key safety q.es* . increasing conce n about tions. And they show that on the inherent confhcts in the at least one occasion the com-AEC's twin roles of regu-i mission consulted with the :"* larmg atomic power and pro-
! dustry it was supposed to be moting :ts use p!aled a rme regulating before dec:dari th:s year in the congress:enal not to pt. bush a study entical dects:on to sp!.t ce corrm.s.
t of its safety p-ocedures- sion into two agecc:es - one Details of the comm:ssion's - to sponsor energy research efforts to avoid pubi;samg re- and one to monitor the cuc!e-
! ar industry. '
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afett 'and '.Buit.fmg. 4EG s E:st *lest t if h '* Arcsey.The ptbucisjr.vlted te)' m .. t Lkem.rg 'Appcti Bosed. pill w.,a g y.Bethesda .;cnacerns tt.e - ' '#**- atteni * - * * '
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' he.g oral argument en Dec 11. -liccasing board's June 14 ' g - p ,' t. l .' . .' '".'i'.l?, ' ] *! *.,.a ?," p: *,i
' ^' #-
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'In' Bethe'sda. Did . $n kaatlers { decision l1,4agm en&enas '? :M "c'L'2RMotoi, Fad, ure stl Tlirce mdeu, _ s .
condderationi of the too ,Unh 3 owned, y Pmladelph:s , , . . g . y ' *, -
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' Peach Bottom nuclear pomer" E!cetricCo. . . , . . , ,,,,
' pla ats' combine .' thermal . Presentations w t! be made. , . i g,, ,, ,., - -t , -, [, .
c; by the utility. Atomic Energ - . A j,, adischarges. 3 , A Gommission regulatory staf . ..t I ,*,The sesuon ein begin at 10 the State of Afaryland and teh .; ... . ...
- Lv e e- --
, f. ,
..e m. in".the appeal board's Cornntodweelth. of ' Penn ' '- . , , .
. .. . . ; 7 heartng room ca the fif:h floor sylvania and the fedwal En hree' llfile Island Nuclear was taken out cf service iThis type of failure mas sn- severst poect leiefs before ~
d of thq ,Easi-West, Tewers vitonatental c?rotgetton .!Cenera:Ing / Station 1.'ait yo, runJerance Sunday night-aRre for uccial a control ticipated the reacter systemsduring and edthenot ocs:gn of' being2 put serviceanSept into comn9teial' Sincethen.ft ; j ',,* , ', .3 ,- ' , i. "., .,. .
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rod drive tnotor ,' .1resalt. in any urs2fe 5 con- .has run et . virtually Ir4 par . . failed . Afe;ropohten Ednon Co. 'J li t o n s.'
- a . c o m p a n y ceat power escept for e le diy .
. . reported,. the proble m spokesman saii . * .: rnalnterance cutage to fa -
**
- desebped easly Sunday and ,
.',',m -* ,
rehaf salve 'icas shen the *
- the p! art mas redred to e per T 15 e p1a a t' en tbV plant ane out of serster frem e i centof ratedprmertoal:ow fer' Sas1achsina Pner between Oct. 20 to 30/1he p:ar.t bss .-l f, determinatien of the et York esatimrllaven and hi'Mletown'., t,can rperatmg at pmver smM 't
* , p rob!rm s. The control rod, was taken our of s-ruce et 9 that curage until iha proNern i 5 . ,
allecxJ by' the snutor failure t. p.m. Sunday and is scheduled developed Sunday - s, dropped mto its in@ leserted. .tobeshutdomn for *fave Despitedays'the , previews, ,
,gesit on and rerismed (Fere.' ) * * ,
4 malatenance enta ge. tKp
,"Ehen insertede the; control 2 ~ The 800 megamett riucieni company said the 500 milbmt
y ' rod checks. or decreres. the a fueled generating station facility has estabt.shed a g%f '+
} fission process;. thus this shstained its first chain ,reliaNIIty record. ,produemt 4 situatica .would deter the, teaction on Jhne ) and gent 31.2RO00.tl00 kilowat: hours 4f .
! ituclear e reaction! somenhst. through a series of tests, ar..electricitysinceSept.2.. q2 ,
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l I [__ _ Our Lives May Be at Stake 7[66, by Margaret Mead ~/5EJ' How man, Americans are awarc of what that comsnitment to the propowd nu-ais ait out commerment to a nuclear pro ckar procram carnes with it a umque gr am to genetare rower wiu mean to our
, own saf.ty. and to the well hems o( our threat to hunian n.ahh and surusal.
The nuclear prostarn is sail m the
# chsfJren and future generations as tar doctopment stase. 1Fe still can covi-ahead as peuple t m imarme? sider what other options we : ase anJ At the heighi of the fuct shortages, anale other. far safer. choices. If we Richard \l. hon as Preudcnt told us take acnon now, we can prottet the that the Onsted States could become m- future.
dependent of ot'ner nations in the ore On the face of it. the liquid metal fast-duction of energy bs the mid1960s arrd brecder reactor (LMFBRi program. of that the Cosernment was takms inc nsc- which the Atomic Eneigs Commi sion essary svens to see that this hisniv de- has been the chiet aJsocate and prck sirable goal would be accomplished. The nuclear encegv program, on which the mater for wseral scais. has an a:most magical sound, indeed from the point Atomre Energy Commisson has tieco of uew of those who think onts of gen-workms for 15 sears, would, he said, cratsns enerss-iast guanntws of erergy turn this bright promise into a reahty. -this advanced reactor looks ideal For 4nd because the 4EC is a Gosernment the LMFBR produces rnure noionable ascocy that Amencans deepiv trust. fuel than it consumes and so it is saad? most peopic haie fett less anuous about will conwne our supphes of uraniurn the future. g for centunct The more nudeas ma. So for the ume bcir.s we hase luu the tenal we put mto the re:scror, the more
! sense that we aic ;a the midst of an tus.onable marenal it will procace; anJ ! enersi cnsas. We hase come through a the more reactors we budJ, the more i summer durms which most peopic hate bountiful the production or fact will be.
had enough sas so so w here thev wamed J to so. and there is no great som about This in turn seems to mean that we can -
; count on an adequate sappis os electnc.
( heatme tuet (or the wmter. It's serv its-the onte maior mdustnal appucanon espensise, set. btit it's there 4nd a great many people are saung, 'That's what of nucicar enersv-no master how hears our demands for energs may become the cnsas was really about-the pnce we oser the nest 20. 40 or 100 vears ~ have lo pa r!" For tne present it is caw to be com. As we hsten so the forecasts of the placent and not ad quest;ons about Atomic Enersv Commisuon about t!'e a pootb41ines of the nuclear energy pro-cructal decisions bucs made without our gram. it is almost as af-en terms of . knowledse or parnacanon. But i be- energs-w e had at last realized the bese no alert and concerncJ Amencans dieams of medicsal alcitemasas of turn-
%ould he atift:1e to nas ttw tremendous ar.g baw metals mto pure sold.
Once of complatenst if ther reaisted Contamard ora psee 34 U 'f"CC4 s'*Ce*4r pdfveee vor.
./ -
/ .
s s W 4D
a e w -.
, Ce som m J .s . - , - M What . ; , m.: a.c.ar r w u,- s n ' .s o - % u c. - %% 6a: -
Atomic leers, Comtrismun or Irum ew 4 + w . n w id64 wr.s tner rN N w u or 4.. A .J 2
'uswn ess 04uavn.um ca;n car be re- r. as mdasstries th.st are rapediv becomir a in i duccd. bl.a rriark6t for the purpose of mains volved m the awvanced LMFBR pruersm At d&rer.t stases uf the fuel cvele of an atomic weapon. The pruuss of trak.
ins a bomb is no 4onser a secret Se s-
*# are the krmw n risks Yet these are rnks I the LMFBR it w ol be necessary to trans-
"' , m3 estraordinary that every cituen m the I port nuclear maiena!s sontainms pru- ent.sts may that anyone harms the knowl.
aauon should hate a vosce m deudans 6
- whether this is the rund to enersv mde. ' tontum to recrucemns piants crude and later crac-and but e*fecteve tbeinplutovuum-<ould bomb a bawinent make a pendence we-or angone-should rAc l hack again to the fuci-tabncation plants. imorkshop
'e And plutomum wel be onc clement in Informed scientists base Jeosed I the nus. tsar waste matenals acts e There for wcuufJ is the nok that a nuclear re-h.ch be an cocmy rarset or that these
, with thc r6sks hsht-wa:er forreactor.
nears the and one asnowesnerience 5 sate storase util hase to be found
% hat an acudent to a nuclear reastos could . *
.*/ we hase m prospect. thers. if the pro.
In cornmerual use, has grown, more of / posed program ewr reaches the com. release anto ths; atmospnere enoemous
' 1*,
a them hasc spoken out in warnens Most I, mercial stage. is transport oser puohe quanutses of radiancine substances that
, , *.' scientific 8:ecusssons about the produc , hishnass and eventual ner*r:anent stor- we would be far more lethat than annt*uns n taoe of miclearlay encras are sery hard foe , are not of pounds but of tons of lethal espenenced dunris bomb teusi As even informed we now know. many hundaeds of whit
* . i persons to under.
.* stand. however, there ase certain facts * ' instan piutonsum that must be guarded nery an Kiomir Enersi Commimon t'n k forse' report cal:cd "aWEormal icGr'.
j that any thenkms person can take r account. And intolf as >ct. no some.t-for one know s howthousands to rdnus"Taseof taichcentunes place m the tu few hsnt-Atomic reactors produce plutomum prosade " safe'* storase. None of the ci-(
#
- U9, an artdicial, man-made element that pentnents we have made so far have water reactors ~how'in operauon. Ac.
' corfms to 1.*us re' port.~madou%c~Iast -
( . is perhaps the deaJitest substance en the 3 prosed to be safe ocn f or short penods. January. about 40 per cent <J the uc-i , Jeorld. It is Leown, foe esample, that a l currences were related to deliciencics of macroscopic amount of plutonsum. if inn
- desan or fabracauon. The rest "were l
haled, would be enough to produce a anevitabin, b) comtmitms cunehes to
,, funs cancer. and at as belaeved that the a nucicar program for thn producuon of caused by operator aaement. inadeauate-crectaon control. error'. Improp
. dispenal of a few grams of pluromum enersy, we also are a6cet ems mered.ble -
nsk s admirustrauve dcliciencaes, random fad.
.* ' throush the aar<ondn4onsna sstrcm of a e Thcre is the nsk that dunns trans- ures and combinanons thereof." Luckds
[
;+
larse. n,odertr off6ce building would be none resulted in masmely dangerous ac.
- B,4t portanon reprocessed plutunaum ma cadcots. But what suarantee h tPere
-) ' what is mostkillauonnhms
," - enoush.to ail its occupants i g abuut piuton. be ward bs consciencetest hitackers-or that we would do as meti d the much 5 1 tum 39 is that er will remaan dcadh dan. esen by high-enmdsJ f.nanca -and used more comples LMFBR program carac c
> \- b) them as a ternbie threat into commercial opera pon?
'
- seruds' for 200T 4 some scisnusis he e There sa the nsk that plutonium.
hese.5000J0) n.srs. To almost ansone's I think any automobile uwner w ho has which is one of thefamonable maternah becn utidiged to return hh latomodei
", ,$4 ' tsamorw anacarest rottere me r .
~
.f *Q .'**g~ p s ,l
'* ~~' ~
- w .-
~ cM to the fxtory for correction of wme action hhy are we putuns so much Jansirous fault or any hotnewdc who. arams. And ssen today, when we know
- has had to efeal with the vagaries of "es- money into the nuclear rcactor program? so mucit more about the risks invohcd.
perts" sn the repair of s.mpic hous6 hold The basic dAculty of bnnsers the only the most out.poken enucs base whole problem into the open. I beltese,
- appliances w i!! be Jotabitul. dared to challenge the retorpmenda.
- And there are the risks of perma- is the tremendous orntire we have ac- trons of the Atomic Enersv Commisuon.
. nent storase To whom wd! we rise the corded the Atomic Energy Commnion. The new Envrronmental Protection stcrtle tan of guardma thcsc potennal y polfutants that are capable of eradarser.
Law reouires escry Cosernmerrt agency to prnent an ampact statemcut that de- ( she commtwon tus ntabthhed aficr scnbes the edect a prorued prograr's * * '
. .ms
. of.rrund' every hvirs t.tnos for sencranons out World War !! to sase us from the ter.
will have on the emironwns and da-nfyins dansers of our own msention.
/ Dr. Ifannes Alften. Nobel Laureate in .
) Phmcs. unues in the Mas.19~7. it was a issue the atomic treamph-a7d bomb it was--that we an Atimpact ersy that Commimon nme refused we tels statement on the huse and cusses ahernautes. ha t to prepare
-r of the Reserfer of the tomrc Scecerrastr.
summed up the vacwpuent et many se remosed control of nuclear desices from possib y disastruus nuclear reacicr pro-entists. ' the mdvarv snd assured ourwhes of gram until a court, responding to a peo-cmlian control.
"Tenuon energy is safe only if a num-A sruup of wise and dcsored senators,atter ple'ssisms suit. the forcedtaskit oftopreparirs do so. Esen then.
- her of cntical deskn worlt as thev a draft -
s
- hould. d a number of peop!e in key pou. and cocaressmen sase the commission to the wry part of the comnusswn re-sreat powers in order to protect us-and sponsible for the program, tt*e ccenmis- ,
tions follow all their anstrucuons. d there is no sabotase, no huxkans of the er. all unknow For the ma, sase overwas comnusuon tou saen muchthe pisw. sion sprarentiv isnvred the rsports of
- transpotis, af no re. actor-tuct processing power to make all the rules, to cuablish its own comened commestces. In par.
i
- plant or reprocessms plant ur retrosi- ticular. the drat (impact statement vir.
' standards of safety and to judse whether tually ignorcJ, or pia >ms dosvn, the a tory an>where in to a region of nots or sucrn!!.s actatty, the wor!d is utuated those standards were bems met. It alternatnes sse hase to the use of nu-
, and no revolution or war-even a ' con- was even the power to drude what uws clearenersv for the product 2on of power.
venuonal one'-takes place in these re- were to be made of nuc' ear enervv. by i These alternantes-solar enersy. sco- - sions. The enormous quantny of whom. on what scale and lor what pur. poses. thermal eners>. wmd encrse. eacret de-
\
t' estremely dangerous matenal must not in a word, the AEC was made the rhed from ocean thermal aradients and pombly controlled nuclear fusiorw i
set into the hands of isnarant reople or desperadoes. 'No acts of God can be tmuator, the judse and the jury in ev- veloped and used, af necessary, m con- " * *
\
. perimeted." V- # ergt'ues to do wah nuclear enersv-all juneuon wHh one another. could prostde .
.s But if all this is really so. Sou may sfus to resulate its use.
- But oser the scars. as nombdities offorenerse us wuh safe. dean to repiace and relia the dwindlins sup *>le
. sources s
, . well ask, how has H come about? Why peaceful uws of nuclear enersv emerged, piks of fowl fuels.
don't more informed people protess? the comnumon became not so much the . But the fact is that the Atomic Enersy
. hy . won't Eonstess . . take re9rramans resulator as the promoter of new pru-
, y s -
Commimon
~
has no mandate to recom- ,
- p i
. g.
g
. , s ,s . .
,%s . .
. . . i , t 7 .
J .
/ .
s e W
e v ~ r-e f d. e & s . I trGnd (he'deselopmeet of onher forms of enersv. It a conocrncd or.tv with nocicar
, power. regardlew sJ the countTe real ns eds or ens es onm.-ntal ufett or the well brins of inens people .and future
. sencrations, or the Jansers of setting up T sotaal controls pouceful enough to pre. I went the mtsuse of nuclear matenals, t In spite of thas. most Americans stju picture the comtmuson as the suoa
{ watchdos who suards us from the de- 'J mome capacities of nuclear nsuon. We g , g g cannot reafire abat the watchdos in whom we placed our trust has become
- a killer dos with tremendous powe: for harra.
And of we do recogruze this, wh'at can we do* What can ordinary citizens do that scientists with their. specialized knowledi;e and high prsange hase been unable to accompissh effectnelv' The - Atomac Energy Commission sta rides hish. ,, ',,t.,
,r , i e hase arrived at the crossroads of decisson. We still have the choice of which roaJ we shall traset. No com- 6 merciath feauble adsanced L\tf DR has.
been built. Other options. toos dslascJ. are siall open. . We can insist that the w hole problem i be opened for Jns unwn in terms every. One c.ua undesstand. We tan inet that crerr option for the develi.pment of
. power rewurces be esplored with ade-easte fundsns We can inmt thJt the search for safe power be dnersiheJ so ll thal we can make choices that will Leco l our child en's future opeq. We can in- l nas th.at w one adenen Jesoted to one '
form of energy production, will be al f lowed so usurp the power of decision. i Most immediately. we can anust that Consress refu,e to pass the nest multi- l ms! hon dolfar appropriations bill pre. e d sented bv the supporters of the riucicar ;
- reactor pt'osram. We have succeeded on '
other occauons. We can succeed in this. Af ter all. w e are trot sheep to be herded
~ by a watchdos we can no Ionser trus'.
As aroused cmzens a! creed to danger, we can he acttselvAsisolant in our own be. half. 7tra ENn Reeders who oppo.se the AEC.sparrsored l
. program for the listed metal fast breed- (
er reactor and the Ja.tseroiss use of oss+
- clear e*retsi for the avvdtsctwn of power a een espress thest opposttrare most e*fec l lsvelv bv wrntiers to thest senators and 6 '
representstaves. Thev rest serse torett le'ess. l laturs no de* cat the nett m ultintJ! son-s dollar aptvropruunon proposed by sup. I
\ \
porters ut the stuclear reactor rrcarem I
' end unnst shut adeguate tuotJs be voted l 4 ' for esplorms sinch afternotte ot;ethods a.s solar and scothermal energy for provid-has safe pois er.. '
l Reeders also cesrt make theer optnwns cormt by wettmt to Ra:ph Nader's Con- - sress Watcit. 133 C Street SE, Washms-tort, DC. 20A13. not orsano:stson that ws;l n . send thest commwsrcstwns to nsembers o ut the appropriate congressronal com. mmers. Further mtormatron on the , Maht for sete power maw be heJ fronn J.
. Gustave $peth. et the Natural Resources i g Delen e Cvwocd. 17l0 N Street NW. ,
Washmtrun. D C.201336. -tits tDETons l
/ == .-em -w m Ee
/
s 4 em
f s ~' - "
- es h, .
Ed3ars . . ,,.<, . 3.* a, rbk ccitructeg nuclear poweg sta. . saurce's but at te'st th*v can'fo 1,.Med ( a rainfall. Cituens are l'av'rg water"*b I 14fT WrEKTresd tlib inti:rrst ( 0'>ns cre,a@t tu commman,
. c *. the Departn.e.st of Ln.arer mer.t.J De- g . prehlems in, tr.mr basements where'. - y '
' [i [ an>r*fe pd.J!>hcJ in 3eur paper re-s tJ f nq to 6 hey ad - , s.r'scis m.1hua far I hre yct la re og- - they rmt had a water problem be. ' ~d
,i - e e ag w m Iw h .:w amas. t fure. Mere is the Q
- g{5 i
v . w Dmg that M. up E.tw n Flectrte ca . , . " 8 M + 88d"2kSn8 M "C*P'. IT' 30P'. :
- We need 'someone in the DER anJn .
u forced ta shut Awa its No.1* . " "# O stIa.ic reactor at 11 rce Mile Islan.cs y M =R'. tt.e clapng " of tha liaines l ' bd Mdump a eM',nunt stktt ad Q W,W *t the -+ Sr re levet the m;# staun - hp ' ' Y ",'l' J " "Y 7" Fif fiar Gcaratinp Station war f.fiJ. "S ivestment' .fl.at many htuens have CJ ~ ~ t*C, ' Ju iwn. lie thu4 ann was sihcJuleJ (
' d
,a combat the niuneyun and the (
4 made,' regardless of .the powei blocs 2
.t e
- foCNov 2 to. change Irakin8 safet1 * .i' tis cituens proper protcction apinst ' 9- DER to acco out a land !Jil er a 4 tar e r g' . -
- ? M.$
g [ g ; valves and lesung p.W kmg gl.umis hd ,,*. , ,these hatards. This Commonwealth kry. Water froso shoppmg centers and au 1. bahn, r, ,g { ' Ouse they were leaking at a greater l spends a fortune for personnel in the .., d*selopments are, flodng homes. ' ' e ,
' * -' are U oded every time me have h Etters' ,]
g {[* m3 s .eduled t e ec'l[s ear y ' , e
* * ' " * ' " ~ #
.. 7he public'1s cohstantly reassured
- th a no' danger exists,yd we note tha(,' ,,
- g
, s * * *-
g , / rahactive gases were accidentally ,, ),.%
- 7 *** , ,,g y v.
- i + -
c*- 3
, ,,s,*'
* - */, *
. rtpased into one.cf t!Le plant build? , [- . *{ , ,3 ,*
.. Inab. There were also twe other to ,; 3 *- 'q y ,c f" ] "
}" ""
chf3nts listed as'dhnormal occur- '
. *rences et.ich were tcported to' tho I i
* ,' , ,, <3 *
,5 i At7nic En~ry Commission. This ,Irn.f ' LM b 's' " , " *
[, j - ,^ *
. ) pbrs a hazarJaus condition.' ' * ,4 A ., { , g., *. ,,
.' .. * , +, ^._
el observe these towers daily and it's . , e . . - . ,., ,
, . # ' ',, . . ~
- O. '
- ?
- inthestmg to note that miniicurrentsJ W;
.'(
-?" ].
= ' i
% diret ting the white vapor from these - - 1, 0 " 14 .'. *] -
mm\ ' y 4 sg ( .* ^ towers flows toward the east- and. " ' l
! f , northeast 75 per cent of the time. If' g... .
P. there were nny danger froni this va- -- J
'..,4ljg~-OKI.AllOM4 ,
CITY (UPI)- fan off a road a Iew mdes fsdm, spokesman Jan Stra>ma'said greater confidence , , 'inthe ', y por,11arnsburg and Middletoonsuuht .- Keir McGee ptant * , (* , be the heaviest recipients.* ' The Atomic . Energy Com e thc Crescent.Okla . plant. . f at a prensconfereng , [le wid he spent severaI,
' He said no firm ewdep. e was p, It is not my intemton to frig.. ten: misstaa said Mo nda y ** The ' ALC said mierwews ! 4. 'Incal citizens unnecessarily. ' lio+ plutonium was dehberatcly with
- plant pcrsonnel and . found to mdicate how gr by ' hours
- discussmg the report
- Ii
- ever, there' are some questions that added to the contaminatiog numcrous recorJs kept Ly she whom s the plutonium was with Keir-McGee of fctals t -
htonday and tbey h,ad ruled out , a .-? tests of KerrMcGee Nuclear; plant showed Mu Likoood'st added. . j v . . beg to be so{wered , i Keppler. AFC the ponihility that plutomum '
?
- 1.' thy hJve the firmers of EtterM [ Plant employe ICarta $dknood. contamin.ition on Nov.5,5 and' \ J ames
..' ka!!cy beca inforpied that pairy cose.. ' . to' make et ' appear she was 'J"probably did not rciutt'from ,reaional directar. from! Glen , was stokn.gfiom
- ttie plant fory
*'edl be required to have periodic tosts' ", highly contamu.ateJ/ . '
- an accident or mcident within ,Lilyn. til., said the AEC woulJ . use in makmg bombs. . ,
i
* *' / review the regulath.cs phich ( htess.Sdkwuos.*a apartment. i s * *in~ relctionship to these tcwers? (The ' ! . was P lh' AEC 82'd the plutonium ,de Pb843 P added to two ' urine sam . -The report said Min Sdk- , prohibit taking plutonium from was. shared by anothe.r; - I plant 4
- wond ingcated some plutonium.' a nut tear, plant and Kerr, employec. Sherry Elho
[k .. fa'r'ms do not receive their saterfrom e.,the river so we assume the tests are : *, (
, Pg,, ,gg, g, sagppg ,,,,, 'abNt hov 7.but her tody and
- htcGec Would renef 2 als
,made and beloie the tests were' .
lhe repoit sa4 the'higliestF
. concentrati.ms of plutonium isp*4 f;,'.7hc
, fa,r radiation >If so,thenthe tests mu'.t *f -
phe for atmG:phe,ric contaminatica) ^' 3
*3, g,;,j, ,,,,(c;wJ .the hs.* m asitt tinucs containcJ um pcimissible c "1he im thanneeds reguLtion hafI. to t>e proceduret.
the ap;irtment.were ' 'sfourd . on a - 2 f
* * ' stren;;tt.cntd m this reprJ."; foilet seat and,on a padage of w O .,Whf ig.Pennsylvama taking the q .*4 f (mdings in, an ir.vestst.ition of lifGit * .* 5
-
- the .
, %d 4
@^A .there". Any *. -he>saids t.clognr anJ cheese inpfrigerator it said Mm Elbs }T r ) .r.
- C n, -'/4 %*,,,e.,e ,
*
- J. '=' .the 23 year-old
- i. cent.imination, lab teshnician's dmotered'an
. question thatl** "I d'*1 there's; same , Keppler said'ihe ALC puld q ^, ", - T T . n
- eviJence. there was t on. - was also contammated in , ,
S' anwasautopsy on her I,ody' She killcq Nov.13 when ber tar .tgivance . ansol ed.1 AEC { try to drkrmme mhat co61d bedon, t i _ A o '*.i !.*: !! y., ,' . p, , ',% *
} ' * *Y s h - k'.
* . g .
*-^
** . 'e " ~
. -r ' S CIENCC
$ cooled basin, carmters cuntamins the wastes would be stored c!me together in -
- 'Can Nuclear Waste Be Stored?
- Between now and the year 2000. U.S. remam after reprtxesung would he con.
$$$"!5EE t e neers to renove heat and proude a radi.
ation shalJ. A scermd aheme wouhl nudear power pt.nts are cipect. verted mto a solid form for ultimate locate the cannters of sohd wastes m ed to produce about $0 rmthon galbm of dnposal. a shielded vault and coni them umply 4
' bghly dangerous radmative waste such nudcar graveyards must be sta- by natural air currents. And under the j-prmiucts. Because suth leth.d compo. ble. _nd secure because the stored sohd chard concept, tenned "the spile> of the
'nonts of the were as plutoruum-2 39, wastes wdl std! contam a certam amount giants' by nuclear consuitant Halph
[ sarontium40 and tesmm-Ir retam their of pluromum, w hich remams radmactne Lapp, the canisters would be pfaced in radmttivity for hundreds and thou- for millennia. Four years ago, the AEC 15 foot-tall concrete contamers in the sands of years, a perm. ment method of thought it had the problem luked. The open, producing cane tsbicans remi-un!ating Ll=m fmm the environment is agency was planning to depout the solid ms&nt of Stonehenge.
'an absolnte necesury. But even as the wa.res m perrnanentir scaled stainless- Whner method is choscu wdl he wastes pile up, the problem seems eser steel ennuters 1.000 feet doun an un- (mtly to adn nhter. The AEC estimates
. more maddenmgfy insoluble. Thirty usej salt rmne near Lyons.1:ans, ne that develapnwnt and rnomtonne of the years of research by the Atomic Energy mine was chosen because salt depouts setup wt:1 cost between 52.3 and $3 bl.
' Commission have f a.!ed to produce a are among the most stable geolooc lion oser the nest quarter century. But foolpronf, bn(term means of gettung nd strata known t2 man. But when a pubhc in the meantime, sass RKhard Goran-of the nucle r g4rbage. Now, the acency outcry was follown! by a mystenous loss son of the scends Rxhland operatum
. n propoung a partial solutaan
. to the problem that is m et- 5 o Sm in Washmcton State, the RSSF
! would "gne the comminion decades to feet; a delning .actaun. It i
!A ' s hundscds of years to determine an idti-1 jorary '
mate disposal mode? plansmanagcment waste to hmid a trmfauhty that wdl kid thc hot tmdear l-M_S L~ u- % k q
, Visions: Cntics of these approa hn residues for a few years-or j_. f susp.s t that the ultimate solutum may perhaps a few decades-em- g ,, k take hundrei of years to emente. vnne
- t.1 ,-
, ' J t of tlem esen hmt that the AEC is re-td the i come tip esports hopefu:!y can with an appropriate f 'q '-
I.. ; laung its etforts to find a permanent means of permanent dnposah ( f < means of dnposal. The enuronmental.
,g hnpant statement. savs Lash, "gnes no This utek in Washmston, (b AEC wd: Mid a pubbe
.; h'g ! .'I- reassuranm 8 i l that there wdl eser be a heaifog on its proposal. The
-I way of pergtually stonna these wastn away from the envimnment?
I} a agency ernuums temporarv lie may be right. Transmutatnn of storage of wastes corntrted jf (j' the radmaatne elements to less bannful ha sohd fortn above or Just 4 forms, for esarriple, is ses n as tes hriicaib b.wath the carth's surface. A} hopebs for a number of decades. One
. Not surprnuudy, the proposal i has aftsel a barrage of ~ sisionary proposal to transport the wastes entici m from opponcnts of
\ by rm ket to the sim appears esen more malrar pow er, who argue y" unhkely; laurnhine a fu ye2ts' worth of that the phdowphy of wait-sold waste, toge ther u 2th the shield.
- ing and bpirig for a perma.
\
1* ' *[ ' ' ing to preent ledat:e m case of. an nent sobtmn represents a aborted lauruh. could ret bd! ions. An. kind of gbbal Russian ruu- # k* ' other proposal. to brv the usstes in the Antarttic ice cap, is banned by meirna-lette "At the same time that _ j we're permittirig the rap.J g
- g. tumal treaty-and 4L> Jubms because capamum of the mnlear of the hkchh.el of glacial m.wenunts.
power industry, we doua Spent. fuel shipping ca k at nuclear reactor dn. For the present, the only permanent 21 meti.od wuh any premne seems kr ow whether the runlear asste proh- of 171000 g dk,ns of water from a near- ' to bunal m salt beds-despite the es-tem is soluble sch'httst ' sass Resourtes With the Natural Terry 1 nh. LT-a stat! by workmg salt mme-thus castine doubt penence at I.nms. Recent!y the agency ferne Camcd. In fact, a number of ad. On the area s senmic 5fJhthry-the AEC proposed a pdot scheme to msesticite dropped tts ph n for this site, which was the use of unmmed salt beds startunt in vocates of nuc! car power regard the to hee been the huning ground far all IMO, by whah tune the H.s5F would problem with almost as muth alarm as comrnercial wave untd the tear Mk be operahte. Sleanwhde madear espeirs the enuronmentalats. "Was*e dnposal?
, Smce then, the act ncy has failed to hke Ralpn Lapp thm - that the ai;encv L j sani one Adminnnation otficial but come up with a smtable alternarne site should opt for salt disposal imn.eshatelv, , week, "may pmatram?
whole nudcar be the Achdies* heel of the or u,ethod. But under pressure to take and forco tLe egensne and potential. l wmc actum to deal wnh the problem. lv hanrdous mtenm >torage. I Graveyard: At present, used fuel rods the cc nmisuon has broucht fonh its plan Es en if the RSSF is bs pass.d. the es. from nudcar reactors are placed in stam- fer a 'retnevable surface storace tacthey* pert. ad:mt that the gron mg pdr of nu. less steel " spent 4uel casis" and then (RSSF) that would perrrat intenm stor. dear wastes udl require a manmum of stnred undercround in large concrete. age of the radinas tne wates untd a hnal moutoring as they make their way frorn hned pools of water at the reactor sites. solution is found. Accordmg to a draft reactors to their erneyard, whereser it The capacity for this type of storage is enurunmental-impact statement that u dt may be. Some foresce the eventual need plamly limited, however, and in tame the be docuued at this ucek's heannit. the for a kmd of technolecical pnnehnut-AF.C hopes that the spent rods may te agency is considenng three apptcaches an etite mternata nal n.rps of ph> sectors treated at reprocesung plants. Thert, to the RSSF, w hich would be located on and enemeers % ho u dl %tth over the most of the uramum and plutamum in AEC prcperty m Washmeton State, uastes m much ti.e same wn that enbal the rods wrndd be recosered for future Idaho ur .\cs ada. chwit.uns et old guarded thcir people's use as fuel in reactors. The wastes that In one concept, termed the water. totems and tabmans. Newsweek, %esember'IS,197 & a
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i as P:i 2 fq i l< L ,_ b t a.s gi " ink 17 ]M,C []M n- [ t i O lb d [F l i , u L:= t < i is the United States pluaged into a monster? l 1 i i aY wLSON CLARK { t
._w lNDIAN POINT, NEW YORK has a l \ l Te < rather dubious dntinction. Located i-
(( y just 25 mdes north of Wnhattan on the liudson River, it is the site of j (4i g three mammoth noclear power
-t '\\ I" 1"-. - plants. Bo.it by Consolidated Edison to help solve the Empire City's awe-u .M some energy needs. the plants have.
; j h.R instead. been a constant source of
' V'? trouble. *
. Indian Point I has functioned less N than half the tune since it began op-
.j <, ,erating in 1962. and it may now le
,6 shut down for good. Indian Point 11.
af ter several initial setbacks, was
'j , ,
.j . finally beenwd by the 4tonut Euerev Commision (AEC) in the fall of 1973.
i x Seven weeks later, however. it was t.f ~_ forced to close dowTi when the hner 1, J . I
'j' i
of its reactor dome - designed to contain radica(1svity in the event of
', an accident - buckled. Earlier.
7
;r o$cials had touted that the dome P '
could with3tand the crash of a B-52 l' - bomter. Indian Point 111 has not ex-e d - perienced similar problems - it is stdl under constniction. Con Ed is not the only utihty to
~ ."
[) ' have ddficulties with nuclear power. It Scre are now about 50 other nucicar
, . power plants in operation across the gle . i cmmtry and many of them hase been f*
i 7' b troublesome. too Yet despite senous
.. .' i ; safety and technical questions. the i b ~** 1.'nited States appears committed to a I' '- .;.' growing reliante on nuclear finion as 1 a key energv wurce. P,v 1%5. accord.
O ing 'to the Federal Energy Admims-tration (FEA), close to 200 plants wn!
- be generating about 30 percent of the
.s
- h .; -
nation's electricitv. Increasingly, the wisdom of this t j policy is hemg sharply challenced by
;' y - entics rancmc from crusader Ralph
(, ; ' Nader to physicist Theodore Tastor. G ,', in several states, lecalation has been e introduced to impose a moratorium t, I on further construction of nuclear
- 1 plants. The whole question is, of T
h We j course, enonnousiv complex. But as
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6 9 Nader put it not long ago, nuclear energv. . But the prir.e that we de- $500 mdhon of insurance coverage, iJ energy is "a survival issue" and thus it is one the American public can ill mand of society for this magical energy source is both a vigdance and borne by the federJ government, for any nuclear power plant accident.
.s . adord to ignore. a longevitv of our social institutions Before the act was passed. the jomt Nuclear fission occurs when the that we are quite unaccustomed to? Committee on Atomic Energy of the The central issue in thn " Faustian Congress asked the AEC to provide
, atoms of an element - in this case
, uranium - are spht by tmy particles bargam" is radioactivity. In large an assessment of the possibilities of called neutrons. In a power plant, amounts, it kdts. Io small doses it can nuclear accidents and what the harm thousands of pencd-thin rods of ura- came cancer and genetic mutations. to the environment and human health y nium arc arranced mude a nuclear re. Two AEC researchers. jshn Gof- might be. The result was the actor so that a controlled " tham reac- man and Arthur Tamplin of the Law- Brookhaven fleport. named for an
.j tion" takes place. Capable of gener- rente Livermore Laboratory in Cah- AEC facihty on Long Island New ating one million kdowatts (1,000 famia, reported back in 1969 that "if York. The. report conduded that a megawatts) of electncity, a modern the average esposure of the 1.'.S. pop- 200 megawau power plant - about
.', nuclear power plant contams about ulation were to rear.h the federally set one.6fth the site of those beme budt 100 tons of uramum fuel imide a steel radwtion expmure standard cf .17 rad today - located 30 miles from a ma-reactor vessel with half foot thick (a measurement of radutww per year jor city, micht sustain an accident
*4 walls. Insde this reactor, water is cir- average, there would, in time, he an that could kill 3E0 people. It could
*g injure another 43.000 and create up culated to absorb the tremendous excess cf 32.000 cases of fatal cancer i' . heat given o1 by the fission process. plus leukemia per year. and this to $7 billion m property damages. In
^
0 Steam,in turn, from the heated water would occur year after year " ubt addition, radioactisity could con-
. propels elettncal turbme generators. concerned the two researthers was taminate up to 150,000 qwre mdes.
In additwn to producmg encrcy. the possibihty that nuclear power When the Price-Anderson Act nuclear power plants also release would create a serious hazard, if came up for renewal by Congress in
, small amounts of radation into the plants were allowed to release the 1965. the AFrs Brookhaven person-surroundme air and water, and they mammum amount of radiation per- nel updated their ong;nal studv.
w introduce heat into the rivers that mitted by federal health standards. Strangely enough. howeser, the re-provide water for cooline Stost sig- The AEC flatly denied the chartes. sidts of the latest study - indicatinc nificantly of all, thev accumulate Both men were threatened with the sigmEcantly higher risks than those of
, ' large amount, of radioactive waste loss of their jobs and Dr. Tamplin's the original study - were not re-materials as uranmm is usPd isp in the entire stad was reassi:ned to other, leased untd last sear. long after Con-Gssion process. Stany of these wastes less controversul work. Soim after, cress had renewed the Pnce-Anderson wdl remain lethal for thousarals of haweser, under pressure froin a nuin- Act without significant debate. Today, i o years. These reahties led physicist and ber of sci-ntists and from the Nation- it is impossible to get insurance
! J Nobel 1. aureate Dr. Ilannes Alfsen to al Academy of Sciences itself. the against a nuclear plant accident, comment: " Fission energy is safe only AEC backed down. It lowered its beyond what the federal government j
]'- ' if a number of critical devices work radiation relea e standards for nuclear
' * ,j as they should. if a number of people plants to one-hundredth of their for- " . ~~
., ' ni key poutions follow all their m- mer value.
.'# struct' ions, if there is no sabotage, no Far more controverstal than the * -?_ ( (
'~
hijackmg of the transports. _' , No normal release of radiation, however. , 'l l -.Y acts of God can be permitted " is the question of a nuclear mishap.
., p. f i'
'.3' To that pomt. Dr. Alvm Weinberg ne precise thances nf a large-scale *y 'I- <
,l of the Federal Energy Admimstration. accident at a nuclear plant have nev- r !l .
' er been satisfactonly gauged. Because L-t* i and former ducctor of the AEC's Oak -
Ridge National Laboratory, adds: of this, private msurance compames i "We nuclear people have made a Faustian bargain with society. On the were reluctant to offer coverace for miclear plants dunng the 1930s. As a t . N___ j
'y-=j.j.- p H j ',
! one hand we offer - in the catalytic result. Congress passed the Price-An- .- W AJ[L b J113 h lime -
i bumer - an inexhaustible source of derson Act, which provides up to i __
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i Since World War ti,17 eams mave Deen recorced at tne AEC s Hanford racMy e hs hgure mas cec' eased e .ecent mores $7Do's N_ .g ! h__.,
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Wasrkngton. seere raccactee nuc ear nas:es a o s:ored in en-sa. ion :anas do not re*ec' prec se power piani ocarons ,y -- ( nu E offers. Homeowner insurance policies nur. lear safety study. He Rasmussen weapon production and nuclear pow- - usued in the U.S., in fat, contam a study, he said, was not independent, er plants are stored by the AEC at
" nuclear accident esclusion" clause. because "it is really still part of the special facihties. De particularly dis.
To anas the question oser nuclear AECT concerting "high-level ~ wastes are safety once and for all. the AEC in large part, the safety debate has stored in carbon steel tanks in liquid spon ored a $3 mdlion ufety study at focused on the poss.bility of an form, where they boil comtantly. the Niasuchusetts Institute of Teth- " emergency core-coohng syste m These wastes are so corrosive that , nology, under the direction of Dr. tECCSi accident. Nuclear reactors some tanks on AEC reservations have Norman Rasmussen. Released last must constantiv be supplied with sprung leaks. To date, in fact.17 year, the study found that the thana s coohng water to prevent meltdown of leaks have been recorded at the of a nuticar power plant acident the mtemelv hot radioactive fuel. A AEC's llanford facihty m Rahland, kiihng as many as 1,000 peopic would meltdown could result in the retene Washington, alone. The wont of be alnut as I kelv as a meteor sinking of radioativity from the reator core these took place in the spring of earth anel kiihne that many people at into the environment. Theoreticallv. 197J, when a tank leak went unde-one time. A m.nor accident cauung as if a pipe breaks - causing a break- teeted for two months, and 115Jnio many as 1300 fatshties, the studs down m the flow of coohng water to gallons of high level nuclear wastes wrnindcd, has the probabihty of oc. the reattor - additioiial emergency esc aped. curring only oine in a bdhon scar water pipes would immedutely sup- Four years a:;o the AEC thooeht it Predatably, reattmn to the Ras- piv water to the hot f uel rods. had found the solution when a an-mtmen report he lieen qmte mned. Whether or not the ECCS would ac- nounced that the high-level wastes
l do not detect anv slantmg of the tually work in an aulent, however, would be collected. sohdihed and per-data to rnimmue the nurnbers in. . is widelv dnputed. manently buried in an abandoned salt volved m the comeqncnce estunates." mine near the small town of Lyons, A long,long Ume Kansa. Further studies showed how-remarked phnitnt Ralph Lapp, a sametime conudtant to the electnc As unsetthng as the accident ques- ever, that the salt idea was unsuitable.
mwer industry. Sharpiv diugreeing, tion might be. it pales somew hat leaving the problem unsolved. vever, was a group of rmelear ew when compared with the mm4 bog- Senator Frank Church of Idaho has perts, ne Umon of Lanterned Scien- chng figures asweiated with waste one simple esplanation for the luk of tists hey found, after "chetkmg~ dispoul. Accordmq to former AEC progress on waste dispmal. In the the fWures in the Rasmunen studv. comimssioner Wdham Anders. ne AEC's nnt 25 years. Chunh ses, it that the most sesere acident uguld, good news is that reator waste pro- spent bdlions to develop the produc-in fact. Ldl M000 people and result duttion represents a small yearly vol- tion side of the nucle.w industry, but in 90.000 aute illnewes. nme, about 90 cubic feet when m sol- a mere $50 million on waste dnposal.
! Wuham Bryan of the National In- id form. This represents the volume This year, the agency plans to spend i stitute for Apphed Research aho of 4 Ins about four andone-half feet about 529.5 mdhon for waste man-questioned the results of the report. on a side and is m contrast to the 25 agement, still less than eicht percent in a statement to Cahformis state tons a dav of tly ash and 250 tons a of the total funds budgeted for ciul-energv pohtv comnuttee last year. he day of sulfur from a sumlar coal-6 red tan reactor research.
said that the " fault tree analysis" plant. He had news is that this high- nese high-level wastes ongmate i techmques used in the Rummsen ly radioactive matenal has to be frnm U 233, a rare form of uramum
' fuel used m the current generation of study were prone to subi ettive mamp- taken care of for a very long time. It ulation bv the researchers. "They wdl require up to seseral hundred nudear reators. It is quickly becom-didn't Gmsh the analy on," Bryan com- years for more than 99 percent of the ing depleted in the U.S. According to i
mented, "so all vou can tell from the nudear waste to decay to acceptable the U.S. Geolognal Survey, recov-bits and pieces that they started on is lesels. Some wdl reqmre 2tR000 etable uramum resources amount to that they thanged fadure rate data vears to decav. Considering that ainut 273.000 tom, whith w dt supply bees several tun-s le ause they were Neandenhal man roamed this planet the nudear industry only untd the not gettmq high enough numben? only 73 000 scars ago, that is a long early 1980s. After that. the U.S. might Brvan's adsae to the Cahforma tune to gnard somethme so deadiv. 6nd itself bargainmg for high-pnced legislators. imist on an mdependent Presently, wastes from nuclear foreign uramum. 36 - - - .- -. _ _ m __ ._. ..
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1 hnide the pressortaed aa'e' <eac:or or a Suut ty Commonweaitn E sort me aaton s
- i maar pam. wws anaqe aravn Nei trst wsca e ma ey sea .ces sc: ear tres Eacn 9 OCC-megama* p ant corta.es co*er pant Dey coerateg a 1960.50 g aoovt 100 lors of uramom Nei rues soumwesi of Crucago at Morrs. twos To many nntlear pnwer advocates. well A maior part of the waste prob.
the arnwer to the uranmm shortace is reNbihty record of nuclear plants to lem. plutomum n currently being date. A recent %Il Strrer foumal ar-the doelopment of tbc h9nd metal produced m U.S. nuclear reactors. fet breeder reactor <LAIFBH), an ad- ticle referred to them as " Atomic And the theft of rmt a few ountes of Lemons." In the past year, the aser-vanced reactor that wd1 produce this highlv dangrous matenal. even 14rce amounts of a in-w. man-made age capacity factor of the plants bs without being made mto a bomb. r.nged between 30 and 60 percent mic! car fuel talled plutomum. In con-juration with the nuclear mdustrv. could be med to threaten the sn- and. although part of this is attnbut-Lhtants of any large bmidme able to stronger AEC safety codes, the AEC is now plannmg to laid 4 Although the ALC recently took demonstration breeder reactor near the figure contmues to dechne rather measures to tehten secunty, that may Oak indge, Tennessee. than improve. Large coal.burnmg not be enough to present theft. "In p.ower plants. too bse proven unre. Some wientnts fear the LNIFBit the presence of nuclear blackmad will breed more serme problems hable. But they are much less es-threats.~ the Ltural Resuurte De- pensve to budd - and they are safer. than it wdi solse. For one thme it feme Couned warned. "the untitution What does it all aJd up to? A b!cak wdl be loaded with thouunds of of martial law seems mentable." pounds of plutonium, whuh Ls been future, perhaps, for nuclear power. called the mmt lethal ponon eser Poor reliability record What is needed now is an expanded prediced. Accordmg to Profewor J B public dew!e on the subiett. f'or 25 Became of these immeme prob- years, about three. fourths of the
- Nedands ot the Umvemtv of Cahfor. lems and became of the newnew of nia at BerLetey, there are "20 mdbon countrv's energy research Ludget has the technolvev itself. nuclear power been devoted almost eschmvely to mortal dmes in a weight of the ete- has not deseloped as qmdiv as the ment eqmvalent to the weicht of an nuclear power. Other promisme AFC had oneinally predated. Ac- sources, bke solar energv are just be-American fac-tent piecef Pluto- cording to the FEA the 30 percent spnning to receive senous attenton.
nmm-239 has a blf-hfe .the time re- fcure now enen bv the AEC as the qmred for half of the element to To economist Allen Kneese, the h-amount of elettncttv mulcar power sues surroundmg the development decav) of over 2t000 years. That wdl mpply tw 1955 "is much lower makes it an ev.enti.div permanent en. and future use ut nuclear power are vironmental bzard. than many other estimates." In part. estremely clearwut: "We are speak. the FEA uvt "the expenence of the ing of hazards which mav a%ct hu. An equallv dnturbing thought is last few sean of delavs m getting nu-
, the pmubhty that a portmn of nu(Ic. mamtv many generations hence and ar fuel might somehow be diverted (lear plants mto commerual oper- questions which cannot be esaluated ation makes it very unhkely that nu- on any known theoretical or empiri-and then labncated mto terrornt dear power tan merene anv faster?
hombs. A leadmg specialid m the At the same time, enonnous cost cal basis. Tbs means that technnal field. Dr. Theodore Taylor, sass that people . . cannot lectimatelv make over-rum on the Oak Rid:e breeder the decision to :enerate such hazards the utuation is entical smce the reactor demomtration plant bse led I
"knowled:e. matenals and fanhties based on techmcal.anab sis. Society I to mtense Congressional entienm. confronts a moral problem of a great required to make nuclear cylusnes whwh mav result m a delav. or esen
. are dntnhuted worldwidef an profundity - in mv opmion one of i end. to the breeder procram. the most con 3cquential that bas ever
' Already. India b5 esploded an \lountmg espemes m construction atomic bomb made from the malcar faced mankird For thn reason.
' ' hase also prompted the FEA to take thtring the short interval ahead whi!c by-products of a nuticar power plant, a mswh harder 'ook at coal as an al- denendence on fission energy could
)i and many other countnes. incinding terna. . to nuclear sources. Recentiv, st.tl be kept withm bounds. I beheve
' Israel, may now have nutlear capain- comtruction of a er 90 nutlear plants the Congress should make an open
) lity. W th i the prohferation of " peace-was postponed indeEmtelv. So far. ac-ful" mulcar power plants. the world and esphat dension about this Faus-cordmg to the Ntional Economic Re- tian bargain."
may soon find itself confronted with search Toottates, more than 40 per- E the Damosles' sword of widespread cent of the sheduled 1%3 nuclear nudcar weaponry - not tmt bv p- plant capantv m the U S has either An enrironmental consultant in ernments, but by terronses who have Washmten. D C., Wilmn Cark is the been delased or cancelled. author of Energy for Suruval(Anchor stolen plutonnun or other materials as Addmq to the problem a the poor frns/Douhlalay.19M.
" 37 i
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, The Silkwood Mystery At 7 30 in the esening of Nov.13. a I white lionda automobde swersed orf e
Oklahoma sute highway 74 and crashed 3 i into a concrete cubert wa!!. kalhng Ka. ren G. Sdkwood. 28. its sole occupant.
'! Silkwood's death had a far greater im-j pact thart most highway fatalites. It brought to hght a bizarre mysterv that has touched offa senes ofins estigations It also resulted last week in a special Atomic Energy Commission report -
about Sdkwood and her centamination by oce of the most dargerous substanc. es known to man-plutoruum. Karen Sdkwood was a $4-an $ cur
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m .. ./ L1 PLUTCNRiM w0eXte EattN SEEWOoD Was she trivedered? echnician at Kerr McGee Corp *s Ca. narron Rher plutomum riant about 30 ndes north of Oklahoma City. The fa-
- thty makes plutoinum pcHet fuel rods
'or the breeder rea.: tor. a second-gan.
Tatson nudcar power plint now bein st feveloped. Sdkwoni w as one of t be most wtne members or kxal 5-283 of the Od.
'I -.hemical and Atomic Workers (inson ihe was deeply ceneerned about how g slutantum was hanJ!cJ. And with gond .
' eason. Inhalation or swadowing of a tw specks of the radioactive efemect i -
lan result in cancer. Enosure to st.gnt-y greater quantities can cause radiation ickness and death Furthe.more, an amount of plutonsum about the site of a oftball is enough to make an atom ~ 30m b. Though Kerr-McGee instaued safe-
- guards to protect its empf03ees from the uzards ofplutomum.Silkwcod w as cnt. .i
- cal of the plant's health and safety pro-cdures Last September, m testimony before the 4tc. she comf anned l aNNt unsafe workmg conditions. In early No-
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INV!IONM!NT si) vember,she became living proof of those j _ dangers. O n two consecuuve days. as ' 4 Sdkwood was leaving work. sensiuse plant monitors detected that she was ^l shghtly contaminated by radicactivity. She was promptly scrubbeJ clean. Lat-i .' er, the brought m urine and fecal sam-1 j i ples,they proseJ to be radioactise. On a third day, the moruturs clackeJ w hen she - j entered the plant. a si.,bseqaent msesu-gatien showed that her apartment had become contanunated too All the whde. Sukwood conimued to report to the umon ca safety prob. < lems in the plant, clatr uns dehnne in- g stances of company slepptr. css. At the - time of her death. ut fact. sne was on . her may to a meetmg with a uruon cf. ; fical and a Nev York Tvncs reporter ; to document her charges. s. Murder or Accident. Uruon oS-cials were suspicas about her fa'.at car , .
' - - ~
crash; they cal]ed m an independent ac. cident imestigator, A O. Pirkus of Dai- taminated after they had been excreted, las After mspecting the skid marks and L!us showed that the samp:es hat been findmg a telltale dent in one of the Hon- dcciored by someone. The evidence thus da's rear fenders, he concluded that a suggests that Likmood had pur;iosely second car haJ forecJ Sdkwood's auto contaminated herself and had probably off the roaJ-thus implying that Sdk- smugg!cd a minute amount of plutoruum swd might hase Nen murdered. Bet home from the plant. Why? Perhan the Oklahoma state h:ghway pa tral to embarrass the cempany and thus citcJ an autopsy showing that her blood strengthen the union s bargaining po. contamed traces of alcohol and meth- sinon at negotiauons late last Nosem-aqualone.which a doctor haJ present<d ber. Or perhaps $dkwood wss emo-as a sedatise. To the police. it seemed ev- tionally unbalanced. ident that she had dolcd off at the w hcci !! seems cicar that Kerr4f4ee has The iat is pursuing the matter further. not ken as ddigent as necessary in pro. Meantime,the AIClaunehed itsown lectmg its morkers from plutonium. The
" I probe of wor kmg conj uoms at the plant. uruon has nonetheless been over7 calot.s g
The commissum s records showed that in its a41cganons of carelessness by the smee Kerr McGee starteJ its plutoruum company. And both the AEC and its pn-operations in 1970,17 safety lapses-m sate contractors need to esercise in-m hich 73 employees were contaminated creased vigilance m guardme the pla-
-had been reported. The unen pro- totuum aga:nst theft or rr%use by duced a hst of 39 aJJ tional al]egauens t;nstable or conspiratonal e m ple' vees. As of steppmess m plutomum handimg for the cause of Sdkwood's death, that Then m rmd-DecemNr. two new cases remams as mystenaus as eser.
involving 6se prsons were reported to the A EC; Kerfdt$ce quickly Je- - nounced them as "contnsel" Yet the / incidents were senous enough to force the company to shut the plant for more than two u ecks. Last acck the A[C Completed its insesugation. It foi.md that only three 1 of the 39 umon al'egations represented I violanons of the cornmission s stan-
* . dards.though another 17 had sutstance d'
i or partial substance " The report ridascJ 1 Kerr McGee. but the umon was not l sausfied " E.nvironmental groups also ,,
' pomted out that the AEC needed the i fuel rods and thus had a cicar mier. ~
est in keepmg Kerr McGee's plant m operauon - i The most stanbrig 6ndmg by the AEC was that SlkucMJ s contamination a
- "probably did not result from an ac. s cident or incident thin the plant.' .,
11ere were plu.on.. traces on her , skin thcugh no acc.Jental telease had occurred m the plant. In aJJiuon. tests showed that Sdkwood haJ "mgestcJ' plutoruum f urthermore. two urme sam-
./ plcs were proscJ to hase beeri con-
/
48
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