Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 13:23:40 -0700 From: "Crist J. Clark" <cristjc@earthlink.net> To: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> Cc: Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@ofug.org>, Stephen Hurd <deuce@lordlegacy.org>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Helping victims of terror Message-ID: <20010919132340.D306@blossom.cjclark.org> In-Reply-To: <3BA33CB6.FE0102C8@mindspring.com>; from tlambert2@mindspring.com on Sat, Sep 15, 2001 at 04:34:14AM -0700 References: <NFBBJPHLGLNJEEECOCHAMEFMCDAA.deuce@lordlegacy.org> <xzpelp9s9ga.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> <3BA33CB6.FE0102C8@mindspring.com>
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On Sat, Sep 15, 2001 at 04:34:14AM -0700, Terry Lambert wrote: > Dag-Erling Smorgrav wrote: [snip] > > What's even harder to swallow (and quite humbling) is the sense that > > many younger Germans (most I've had a chance to talk to, in fact) > > still harbor deep feelings of guilt about World War II. Americans, > > however, don't seem to think much of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or the > > carpet bombings; history is obviously written by the winners. > > This is aggregiously incorrect. > > The U.S. is so guilt-ridden over the use of atomic weapons in > Japan that it eschews nuclear power with a fear verging on a > true phobia. In order of percentage of power generated via > nuclear energy, the U.S. ranks 10th. In order of most to least > (Source: "Energy Studies Yearbook, United Nations, 1995"), the > top 10 are: France, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, South Korea, Ukraine, > Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States. I loathe to join the thread, but this is so-o way off base. > Note Germany (29% nuclear powered) and Japan (28%) are much > higher up the list than the U.S. (19%). > > California PG&E customers pay a fee on their bill each month to > support the decommissioning of existing nuclear plants -- and > this decommissioning is occurring _despite_ a large enough power > crisis that rolling blackouts were occurring alost daily for > months on end: we were so afraid of nuclear power, we were getting > rid of the reactors, despite having to cut power to homes, schools, > businesses, and, in some instances, vital services on which peoples > lives may depend. Nuclear powerplants from the 50's and 60's are being decomissioned because most are operating near or well past their design lifetimes. These plants _need_ to be decommissioned. The engineers who built and run them will tell you this needs to be done. Now, as to why no new nuclear plants have been built in the past few decades is a whole separate issue. Economics, regulation, and public fear of accidents have prevented this. However, the idea that the US public feels guilty about using fission weapons against Japan is completely unfounded. > We do this _despite_ the fact that nuclear waste can be held > safely until it is itself safe, while the chemical waste from > coal-fired plants _does not break down_ -- it is dangerous > _forever_. I am wondering what type of hazardous chemical wastes from coal cumbustion you are speaking of. > So you are an idiot if you don't think that America does not > suffer _profound_ guilt over the use of nuclear weapons in the > Japan conflict; it does -- to the point of abandoning money, > working lights and heat, efficiency, and rabid environmentalism... > all to assuage that guilt. Wow. Americans are scared of nuclear powerplants because they are scared of "toxic chemicals" to the point of hysteria (Three Mile Island, Love Canal, Brookhaven, the asbestos insanity, saccharine listed as a carcinogen, etc. to name a few). But Americans by and large are and have always been comfortable having a mindbogglingly large stockpile of nuclear weapons. Actually, we've mostly worried about not having enough (Kennedy's "Missile Gap," the Reagan years). You mentioned Brookhaven later in this thread. When I used to live in the East, only that fringe of professional protesters gave a whit about Brookhaven until a report came out about the contamination in the nearby soil and groundwater. Then _and only then_ did the local media and public really care about Brookhaven. It's not some imagined guilt about using nuclear weapons on Japanese driving protests at Brookhaven, it's fear of our pal Blinky of Simpsons fame. As a chemical engineer, I could delve into how grossly disproportionate the fears of these things are as opposed to the real risks (the common irrational fears of crime and terrorism got nothing on these), but I'll spare you all. -- Crist J. Clark cjclark@alum.mit.edu To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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