NUCLEAR NOTES

Apparently aiming for Penthouse's standards, the September Ladies' Home Journal brought an anti nuclear article by Ralph Nader Himself. Most of it is as callous and vicious as is usual for The Master; only at one point, perhaps, does He outdo Himself in both respects: "Stopping nuclear power is a major cancer prevention program." The cancer victims due to delayed nuclear plants evidently do not rob the Great Consumer Advocate of any sleep.

Juliette Zivic, the courageous nuclear engineer who organized Americans for More Power Sources in New Hampshire asked Ladies' Home Journal for equal space to refute Nader's vicious sophistry. She was given the runaround, but persisted, until an editor told her that it was not editorial policy to take sides! This is in contrast to the editors of Penthouse, who were visited by Charles Yulish and may print a rebuttal in another journal, or even in Penthouse itself. The obvious conclusion is that Ladies' Home Journal simply does not measure up to the standards of Penthouse.

"Economics of Nuclear Power" by A.D. Rossin and Rieck in Science, 8/18/78, shows that nuclear plants have been good investments and have produced substantial savings to consumers.

In order to cause more public anxiety about radioactivity, anti nuclear groups are promoting the use of spiderwort plants to measure background radiation. As pointed out by biochemist Dr P.H. Metzger in a letter to the Colorado Dept. of Health, the flower is unstable and responds to many other things besides radiation; it is also 100 times less sensitive than conventional instruments; it does not give instantaneous readings but requires 3 weeks of exposure, after which a remarkably tedious procedure is required to detect any changes; and it can be used only during the four warm months of the year.