From: rrd@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ray Depew)
Newsgroups: sci.energy
Subject: Re: Nuke Stupidity Rebuttal
Date: 25 Sep 92 18:27:44 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA

In sci.energy, kkirksey@world.std.com (Ken B Kirksey) writes:

[ lots of stuff ]

Ken, I don'thtuink that you have TOO much to worry about, except for the
possibility that this Howard Fast character has a golden tongue.

> ....   And in all truth, beyond the fact 
> that they are enormously profitable to those who build them and supply 
> the atomic fuel, there is no real necessity for atomic power.  
>  
> We have enough natural gas, combined with other sources, to provide clean 
> energy for years to come. New agricultural techniques make it possible to 
> grow sufficient plant sources of fuel to take care of any petroleum 
> shortfall. We have vast sources of coal, and scientists are finding new 
> nonpolluting ways to use it, and the advances in wind-power and sun-power 
> open a whole new, clean world of power.  

At best, this is a horrible misunderstading.  At worst, it is an outright
and intentional lie.

I took an "Energy and the Environment" course back in 1980.  One assignment
was (1) to research the world's projected energy 
needs for the present, the next decade and the next century, (2) to research
the world's projected energy resources for the same time periods, 
including petroleum imports, and (3) to compare the two.  We reached the
sobering conclusion that WE ARE GOING TO NEED EVERY DROP OF ENERGY WE CAN 
SQUEEZE FROM EVERY RESOURCE WE HAVE, UNLESS HUMANS ARE WILLING TO 
DRASTICALLY REDUCE THEIR PER-CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY.  (This means
solar, wind, photovoltaic, biomass, nuclear, coal, ... you name it.)
Even ZPG wouldn't be enough to solve the problem, because per-capita 
energy consumption in the world continues to increase, despite all our
efforts to conserve.  (Sorry about the ALL CAPS, but Mr. Fast might need
to see them as well.)

Anyone who thinks we can eliminate one current or future source of energy,
be it coal, nuclear or hydro, is living in a fool's paradise.  If we were
to shut off nuke power, be it a little at a time or all at once, quality-
of-life would suffer the world over.

> When one thinks of the trillions of dollars that have been poured into 
> creating atomic-energy plants Q all of them doomed by the dangers they 
> threaten and by their innate shortness of life, as compared to other 
> sources of power Q one can conclude only that we have an inborn and 
> unshakable streak of insanity.

I'd demand some documentary proof for this emotional, inflammatory and 
unprovable statement.

I take it Mr. Fast hasn't driven northward into Canada to see all of the
hardwood forests which have been killed by acid rain.  Scientific American
contained a series of articles not too long ago (no references, sorry),
complete with maps, demonstrating how the plumes from the USA's eastern
coal-fired power plants and factories correlated with the forest kills in
eastern Canada.

He's probably never concerned himself, either, with the health hazards
associated with coal mining, including the fatal respiratory illnesses 
suffered by miners and entire mining towns -- or with the high 
concentrations of toxic heavy metals in the water which leaches out of 
piles of coal ash -- or with the fact that coal and crude oil contain 
lethally high concentrations of proven (not suspected) carcinogens, such
that merely handling the stuff is a no-no.

>  
> Howard Fast is an author, playwright and screenwriter.
>  

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -- Ken, this is the best line in the entire article!
Such credentials!  I know, if you make fun of his credentials you will 
lose credibility, not he, but if you've got the nerve, you might suggest
that he stick to what he knows best, and leave the scientific thinking to
those who know enough not to pull their facts out of thin air.

The newspaper should have used this tag line:
"Howard Fast is a writer of fiction."

Man, good luck to you.  Guys like this need to be shut up before their
arm-waving and screaming creates more damage than it prevents.


Regards
Ray Depew
Integrated Circuits Business Division
Hewlett Packard Co, Fort Collins, Colorado
rrd@hpfiqa.fc.hp.com
BSChE BYU '81
MSEE Stanford '88