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From: desj@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (David desJardins)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.sci,net.bio
Subject: Re: Plutonium
Message-ID: <13911@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Tue, 20-May-86 21:02:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.13911
Posted: Tue May 20 21:02:14 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 22-May-86 20:01:15 EDT
References: <616@bu-cs.UUCP> <260@alliant.UUCP>
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Reply-To: desj@brahms.UUCP (David desJardins)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
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Xref: lsuc net.politics:5735 net.sci:646 net.bio:265

In article <260@alliant.UUCP> gottlieb@alliant.UUCP (Bob Gottlieb) writes:
>In article <616@bu-cs.UUCP> bzs@bu-cs.UUCP (Barry Shein) writes:
>
>>Maybe we are!...more seriously, isn't anyone else in this plutonium
>>discussion at least mildly disturbed at the 10% increase in Cancer
>>deaths over the last 20 years recently reported by the Harvard School
>>of Public Health?
>
>Personally, I feel that while Reactors are dangerous, they don't even begin
>to touch the dangers from smoking tobacco.

   Let's not repeat the perennial confusion between nuclear REACTORS and
nuclear WEAPONS.  Certainly no one would blame an increase in cancer deaths
on nuclear REACTORS, since it is very easy to detect radiation release from
a reactor, and the total of all such leaks is simply insignificant.  On the
other hand, it is at least possible that some increase in cancer deaths could
be due to nuclear WEAPONS testing, particularly atmospheric testing of the
50s.  I'm sure that this is what Barry meant to suggest.

   -- David desJardins