From: kovarik@utkux1.utk.edu (SaintMeechTheChaste)
Newsgroups: alt.angst
Subject: Re: National Lab Syndrome
Keywords: (perhaps grotesquely rotund, spheroid, fragrant and radioactive)
Date: 18 Aug 92 00:51:56 GMT
Organization: University of Tennessee Computing Center

In article <959mgwn@lynx.unm.edu> jennyb@triton.unm.edu (Jenny Ballmann) writes:
>In article <1992Aug17.191307.24056@utkux1.utk.edu> kovarik@utkux1.utk.edu (SaintMeechTheChaste) writes:
>>
>>Score:      Vultures       Ravens        Deer/Deer ticks    Barbie/Ken
>>
>>Los Alamos                     x
>>Brookhaven                                     x                 x
>>Oak Ridge        x             x               x                 x
>>
>>I'd like to add "rednecks on coke" who are growing dope out in the 
>>mountains.  Makes going for hikes a bit risky if you get off the trail.
>>
>You know, it stands to figure that they would put National Labs in 
>godforsaken wilderness areas (nothing against wilderness areas, mind you)
>with an uneducated local work force.  
>

Well, my impression from reading history books about Oak Ridge is that
it was located in this area for the following reasons:

1)  Access to lots of electricity (the Tennessee Valley Authority,
and all that).

2)  The population density is so low that strangers (spies) would be
easy to spot.  

3)  The local population was relatively uneducated so that 
      3a) It would not cause any legal hassle to evict people living
          on the land required because they were not sufficiently well
	  educated to defend themselves, and since alot of people 
	  living here were squatters with no legal title to the land,
	  they could be removed without compensation.
      3b) The people here were sufficiently impoverished, and uneducated
          that they would be more easily convinced to work in environments
          not so healthy for life.

4)  If a major release of radioactive materials occured, it would not
    contaminate any populated areas.

Originally, the govt. wanted to name the town Valhalla or Shangri-la, but
cooler heads prevailed.

Actually, it is my opinion, that inspite of pollution problems associated
with the lab, its presence here in East Tennessee has been a tremendous
boon to the local economy.  It has attracted some hi-tech
industry to the area, and the presence of a relatively high number
of engineers, and scientists of other ilks, has resulted in a 
higher local tax base, and much better schools than is the norm in TN.  So
people who grow up here do have more opportunities than elsewhere in
the state.  They often do not choose to take advantage of them,
but they have them.

>above examples don't hold a candle to others I could mention, but won't

Please, tell me more.  Inquiring minds want to know!  An Oak Ridge
addendum....

Here's the text of a Radiation Safety Bulletin I got in July last year.

*******  start here ****
Frogs exhibiting detectable levels of radiation, some dead and some alive, have
been found on the South Central portion of the Laboratory.  They are
thought to have migrated from the 3524 retention pond where they
hatched.  The levels of radiation present are not excessive and do not
constitute a significant threat of exposure to others but are well above
background and the frogs should be treated with the same degree of
caution as other low level contaminated items.

Should a frog "hop" into or be found in your area you should:

1)  Contact health physics and have the frog checked for radioactivity.

2)  Return the frog to the 3524 retention pond if it is alive.

3)  Manage the frog as radioactive waste if it is dead and found by
    health physics to be emitting detectable levels of radiation.
*******  end ************

					Meech