Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site mnetor.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcs!mnetor!fred From: fred@mnetor.UUCP (Fred Williams) Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: Re: Safety of nuclear submarines -- wastes Message-ID: <2222@mnetor.UUCP> Date: Thu, 19-Sep-85 10:03:40 EDT Article-I.D.: mnetor.2222 Posted: Thu Sep 19 10:03:40 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 19-Sep-85 11:16:37 EDT References: <1386@utcsri.UUCP> <5952@utzoo.UUCP> <820@water.UUCP> <5981@utzoo.UUCP> Reply-To: fred@mnetor.UUCP (Fred Williams) Organization: Computer X (CANADA) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada Lines: 39 Summary: In article <5981@utzoo.UUCP> henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) writes: >> ... But it is >> definate that if the nuclear waste that we've tucked away already >> were to leak and become evenly distributed around the earth, that >> all the higher life forms would perish, and that includes us! > >And if all the energy in one atom bomb were carefully distributed in the >right places, that would suffice to destroy all higher life forms too. >But we were discussing realistic situations, not grossly contrived ones. Who is going to baby-sit this stuff for thew next 1000 centuries? Are you volunteering Henry? People will forget where it is! People will forget what nation put it there. People will forget what the danger markers mean. People will dig it up and scatter it all around before they know what's hit them. A few will die within a few days and the rest will figure out what has happened, (*IF* they still understand what radiation means), and try to contain things. But there is a long time to wait. How many times will the sites be forgotten, and re-discovered? It is not at all unrealistic that much of this material will find it's way into the environment in which we live. The levels of radiation at that point will be high enough to destroy the human gene pool. This does not mean that I think other forms of pollution are unimportant, but we have to start making decisions in a responsible manner about all of our large scale activities. If we don't know what to do with nuclear wastes, we have no business creating them! Yes I know I've been expounding on this quite a lot lately and I'm preparing to shut up soon. But every time I see someone calling my reasoning grossly contrived my blood pressure goes up a few notches. Have a nice day, Henry(:-)> -- Cheers, Fred Williams, UUCP: {allegra, linus, ihnp4}!utzoo!mnetor!fred BELL: (416)-475-8980 ext. 318