NUCLEAR NOTES

1.) Darn! Darn! Darn! "Coal and nuclear, respectively" was inverted last month. Here are the 1980 figures (in %) again:

Quantity Nuclear Coal Definition

Capacity factor 59.3 58.2 ratio of rated to average power

Forced outage 10.8 13.9 unscheduled down time to total

rate time

Availability 67.4 75.1 ratio of time available to total

time

2.) In his book Hormesis With Ionizing Radiation, Prof. T.D. Luckey presented abundant evidence that ionizing radiation (radioactivity) at low levels is beneficial for growth, fecundity, prolonged life span, and for resistance to infection and to cancer induction; and that insufficient radiation can be harmful [AtE Oct. 81]. His conclusions are based on 800 references to experiments with plants and 200 with animals, but none with humans. In a letter to Nuclear News, Dec. 81, he points to some of the evidence that the hormesis principle is valid for humans, too, as will be reviewed in a paper now in press (Health Physics). It is possible, though not proven, that high background radiation or its absence could explain two puzzles that have baffled epidemiologists: In the Southeast coastal areas of the US (where the radioactive background is unusually low) death rates do not correlate well with chronic diseases; and in the Indian state of Kerala (where highly radioactive rock exposes residents to 10 times the average level in the US) people are reported to have the highest literacy and best health status in India, though they have the least adequate diet of all Indian states and only average health care.

3.) Two male editors of SCIENCE NEWS could be convicted of HOMOPHOBIA if homophobia (fear of sameness, dread of monotony) is constitutionally made a felony and the two editors are found guilty of committing it. Our unusual way of reporting this strange item is inspired by the fact that Science News put NUCLEAR TRASH: AN INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM in large letters above a symbolic, staged photo on its cover, but inside brought a story that has to be read attentively to realize that it is most reassuring. In particular, an entire part of tables has been lifted from the excellent booklet Management of Radioactive Wastes by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which we recommended in January, and which has since been made available free by AIF, 7101 Wisconsin Ave., Washington, DC 20014.

4.) Dr Henry Hurwitz continues to arouse the public to the blatant inconsistency of covering up exposures to 2,000 mrem/year in energy-efficient homes while exaggerated attention is given to doses of 1 mrem at TMI and elsewhere, though in both cases the value is measured and calculated in exactly the same way (see e.g. his letter to IEEE Spectrum, Nov. 81). He has now written an incisive 4-page letter to NRC Chairman N. Palladino suggesting that no one near TMI should be considered to have "psychological stress" (invoked to delay the re-licensing of TMI-1) who has failed to have his home tested for radon. A copy of the letter is available to AtE readers from Dr H. Hurwitz, General Electric R&D, Box 43, Bldg. 37, Rm. 353, Schenectady, NY 12301.