NUCLEAR NOTES

1.) "All Cretians are liars," said a Cretian. Was he telling the truth? That was one of the paradoxes fascinating the ancient world. Two millenia later, we have an equivalent: Harvard Medical School, which recently offered 14 credit hours for sitting out Caldicott's, Rathjens' and other such scholars' harangues on the nuclear arms race, begins its advertisement for a new health letter with "Medical misinformation has reached epidemic proportions here in America." True? If the quandary drives you crazy, consult their psychiatric department.

2.) But to find out more about Caldicott & Co's medicine as applied to health, nuclear power and nuclear war, send $2 for Doctors Against Health to Golem Press, Box 1342, Boulder, CO 80306. Order form was enclosed with this issue.

3.) When would Richard Ottinger (D-NY) express concern that the DoE is terminating work on all LWR improvements except extended fuel burnup? When hell freezes over? No; in hearings of his committee, Oct. 5-6, 1981 (Nucl. News, Dec. 81, p.90). There appears to be one thing diabolical beyond the horror of the nukes: Bills not footed by the taxpayer.

4.) With your help, Idaho will vote on a nuclear initiative of a different kind: no laws prohibiting nuclear power unless approved by plebiscite. Contributions to: Citizens for Energy and Environment, Box 575, Meridian, ID 83642.

5.) "The strong public interest in free speech does not encompass criminal trespass, unlawful assembly, and the blocking of police officers," says the Pacific Legal Foundation in its $1 million suit against the Abalone Alliance on behalf of a broad coalition of consumer and taxpayer groups, Diablo Canyon plant workers, and San Louis Obispo residents (and for the benefit of the sissies who make no waves, too). Contributions to PLF, 455 Capitol Hill/#600, Sacramento, CA 98514.

6.) The $10.5 million judgement awarded to the estate of Karen Silkwood was overruled by a Federal Appeals Court in Denver on Dec. 11, which found no evidence "that Kerr McGee operatives intentionally exposed her to contamination," but to save the reputation of the Imperial Judiciary, another Federal Appeals Court ruled in January that the NRC must consider the threat of "psychological damage" before relicensing the undamaged TMI Unit 1. This will allow more time for a few more people to be killed by the less safe replacement power now serving TMI's service area; for justice is blind. Also deaf and dumb.

7.) Amazingly, nuclear plants still delivered (slightly) cheaper electricity than coal-fired plants in 1980 in spite of the artificial costs imposed on them. An AIF survey (and for twisted minds, we add that AIFs member organizations overwhelmingly run or make coal-fired plants) reports the average cost of a kilowatt-hour 2.3 cents for nuclear and 2.5 cents for coal (5.4 cents for oil), though the difference narrowed from 1979. The cost includes not only amortization of the investment, but also funding of decommissioning and waste disposal. In performance, the far more strictly regulated nuclear plants did better in capacity factor and forced outage rate, and only slightly worse in availability. Capacity factor is the ratio of average to peak power; the figures for coal and nuclear, respectively, were 59.3%/58.2,%; for forced outage rate, the ratio of unscheduled down time to total time, 10.8%/13.9%; for availability, the ratio of time available to total time (and affected by both forced outages and scheduled maintenance), 67.4%/75.1%. (Lower is better only for outage.)