AGAINST THE SHUT-DOWN INITIATIVES

The Fight over Nuclear Power by U. of Wash. nuclear physicists F.H. Schmidt and D. Bodansky is an excellent explanation of what nuclear power and the opposition to it is about. In some ways, it is a competitor of The Health Hazards..., and a very welcome one; we wish we had more competitions Softbound, 154pp., $4.95 ppd. from Albion Publc Co., 1736 Stockton St., San Francisco, CA 94133.

The paperback edition of The Health Hazards of Not Going Nuclear is almost sold out and a second printing is now underway. $5.9S paper, $10.95 cloth, from Golem Press, Box 1342, Boulder, CO 80302. (For current AtE subscribers, $5.36 paper, $8.76 cloth, prepaid.)

Bantam Books, publishers of the puerile Prometheus Crisis, have now published a further masterpiece entitled Unacceptable Risk. The manuscript, boasts Bantam, was carefully examined for inaccuracies by 8 scientists and professionals; when asked for their names by long-distance telephone, they replied "Whose side are you on?" and did not divulge them.

For the first time, says Bantam's promotion, Unacceptable Risk features a report on Dr E. Martell's research on low-level radiation that proves cancer. Who is Marten? An employee of the National Center of Atmospheric Research who claims that virtually all cancers are caused by radioactivity, a view held by no recognized authority; a man remarkably unconcerned about the hazards of non-nuclear power who scares laymen with far-fetched theories of cancer that have little connection with commercial nuclear power; who has stated in public that the American Health Physics Society has endorsed nuclear power because it would have nothing to do without it (in fact, the AHPS is concerned with all dangerous radiation, of which only half is man-made, and of that more than 99.9% is due to medical equipment and other sources not producing electricity); who replied to Dr. Metzger's question in a recent interview (AtE Jul 76) whether his far-fetched theories might not damage his professional credibility, "You're either with us or against us." Students of that type of "science" should not miss Unacceptable Risk.

The Arizona petition for a shut-down initiative appears to have been filed sloppily and is now being challenged in court. More information from Arizonans for Jobs & Energy, 222 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004; tel. 257-0660.