THE TOP 10 PRONUCLEAR ARGUMENTS...ANSWERED

ARGUMENT 1: We receive more radiation sitting in our living rooms than is given off by nuclear power plants. A brick wall puts out 3.5 millirems of radiation per year but a nuclear power plant releases only 0.3 millirem in the same time period. In fact you can stand right next to a nuclear power plant and receive no radiation at all.

        GOFMAN: First let me agree that certain building materials do give off enough radiation doses to deserve consideration. Let me also agree that there is a very low dose of radiation emitted at the fenceline of a nuclear power plant that is functioning normally If this were not the case, workers couldn't park their cars nearby or even approach such utilities at all.

        However, the "no dose at fenceline" statement doesn't consider the radiation people can receive from the entire nuclear power fuel cycle. We need to take into account all of the steps that make up the atomic energy process including the production of mountains of uranium tailings (unshielded piles that are continuously releasing radioactive radon) . . . the inventory of radioactive poisons--such as cesium 137 strontium 90 and iodine 131--that "leak" or "puff" into the atmosphere when a power plant is not functioning normally . . . the quantities of radioactive wastes being moved in fallible vehicles that can (and do) leak . . . and the so-called burial sites which have also been shown to leak and spread their material into the environment at large.

        Now let's come to the claim that a nuclear power plant itself releases only 3/10 of a millirem per year. Were that radiation dose--coupled of course with other fuel cycle emissions--truly always so small I would hardly waste my time concerning myself with the hazards of nuclear power. But the proof that advocates of this energy source have no confidence whatsoever in their estimate of the plants' releases lies in their behavior with respect to the legal radiation standards.

        As late as 1979, nuclear power plants were, legally, allowed to bombard the public with 170 millirems per year. When my colleague Arthur Tamplin and I proposed a tenfold reduction in that standard, the nuclear industry and pronuclear government agencies fought us tooth and nail. Now it has to be regarded as the acme of strange behavior for an industry to say, "Look, we're never going to give you more than 3/10 of a millirem per year" . . . and then demand that the permissible standard remain more than 500 times as high as that limit! So I would say that as long as the industry fights against reducing legal standards to a level comparable to the 3/10 millirem per year that nuclear power advocates claim is the maximum dose per plant, any member of the public can dismiss such ludicrously low estimates.

        (The legal standard was changed in 1979. It now permits 25 millirems per year of ionizing radiation to be passed on to the general public, under normal operating conditions! The Catch-22 here is that if anything occurs to make the operating conditions "abnormal", a nuclear facility is permitted to release an increased--and unrestricted--quantity of radiation.)

ARGUMENT 2: People living in high altitude cities, such as Denver, receive twice as much natural radiation as do those living at low altitudes . . . yet the residents of such cosmically bombarded locales don't display double the average incidence of cancer.

        GOFMAN: The answer to this favorite pronuclear argument is that the cosmic radiation hitting the people in Denver probably does cause an increase in the number of cancer cases per capita. (One should not expect to find twice as many cases of cancer, of course, because radiation is not the only cause of the disease.) But to statistically demonstrate such a reality, we would first have to know [1] that the medical reporting of disease categories was equally accurate in that city and the sea-level community to which Denver was being compared, [2] that the people who are considered "at risk" in both communities had all lived at the same location all their lives, and [3] that any other carcinogenic factors--aside from background radiation--were identical in both areas. (Undoubtedly they would not be identical.)

        The fact is that no expert in the field of vital statistics would be prepared to contest the point that Denver residents may be experiencing an increased cancer incidence rate as a result of cosmic radiation . . . when compared with otherwise equivalent people at sea level.

ARGUMENT 3: A chest X-ray exposes a person to 50 millirems of radiation, and a coast-to-coast jet flight gives one a dose of 5 millirems. But the spokespersons of the antinuclear "movement" don't complain about those hazards.

        GOFMAN: An individual has the right to choose to accept the radiation received by flying coast to coast or by having a chest X-ray . . . in exchange for a perceived benefit for him- or herself. (The dose received from a variety of medical X-rays is high enough, though, that I would not recommend undergoing such examinations unless the procedures are required in order to make an accurate diagnosis of a potentially fatal disease.)

        But nuclear power does not offer a voluntary choice . . . the radiation released by nuclear power is imposed upon people. Indeed, atomic power represents the use of an entire population as involuntary guinea pigs in a gigantic game of Russian roulette . . . the results of which could be an epidemic of cancer, leukemia, and genetic disease. And there would be no justification for such an involuntary imposition of risk even if the majority of the people in a country voted in favor of nuclear power . . . because the majority has no right to risk committing genocide against the minority.

ARGUMENT 8: Nuclear power supplies 13% of our country's electricity today. If Industry is denied that energy, many jobs will surely be lost.

        GOFMAN: The relationship of employment to energy is a very complex matter. If you simply shut off the electricity serving a specific factory tomorrow, then of course the people working there will be out of work. On the other hand, the longrange increased use of electricity in factories often results in more mechanization and a decrease in the number of humans required to conduct the businesses' activities.

        Furthermore, there's little reason to believe that the method of energy production affects employment . . . though many solar advocates claim that "their" energy source will produce more jobs per dollar than most other power alternatives.

        And as for any possible energy--not jobs--shortage that could occur if we were to abandon atomic power (nuclear plants do produce 13% of our electricity, but that amounts to only 3% of our total annual energy consumption) . . . the American Institute of Architects has calculated, in two carefully researched reports, that we could work up to a 26% saving in America's projected energy use by 1990 (which would be equivalent to the production of about 430 giant nuclear plants) simply by putting conventional technology to work to make our buildings energy-efficient.

ARGUMENT 9: The question of the risks of nuclear power is a deeply technical issue that only well-informed scientists, in that specific field, can understand . . . and the majority of such people support nuclear power.

        GOFMAN: I have several things to say in response to that one! First, by simply using common sense, the layman will often behave far more intelligently than would a Ph.D. The ordinary man-in-the-street can look at the amount of radioactivity that would be produced in a full-scale nuclear industry and realize that containing such toxins to 99.9999% perfection day in, day out, year in, and year out--when one considers all the possible human and machine fallibilities--is impossible. But the expert who looks at a computer printout based on the perfect execution of a string of single operations and then concludes that the toxins can be contained to one part in a million is, to my way of thinking, the person who's behaving like an idiot.

        Let me now address the idea that the majority of qualified scientists support nuclear power. When considering this statement, you should first realize that the U.S. government funds about half of the research in this country. And, as I can tell you from my own personal experience, the government doesn't like results that disagree with its policies. Therefore, many scientists are publicly silent on nuclear power, or declare that the issue is too controversial to take a stance on, when privately they will admit their reservations.

        Most important, though, scientific truth is not a popularity contest. Throughout history, almost every step forward in science was resisted by the majority of contemporary scientists. When most people thought that our earth was the center of the universe, the planet was traveling through space just as it's doing today . . . even though the "vast preponderance" of scientific opinion was steadfastly against such an idea. So remember: No matter how many votes a scientific committee may cast . . . the truth of nature remains unchanged.

ARGUMENT 10: Every activity--including driving a car--is risky. It's impossible to have a risk-free society. Consequently the benefits of an action must be weighed against its hazards . . . and nuclear power's benefits outweigh its risks.

        GOFMAN: It is absolutely true that we cannot have a risk-free society. And, since that's the case, we should recognize that those who produce hazards for others must be fully prepared to take the financial consequences of the risks. This rule does hold true among individuals, and a corporation or the government should not be allowed to assume the right--which individuals do not have--to aggress against others. Yet nuclear power is currently absolved from the responsibilities of its actions by the Price-Anderson Act.

        Moreover, the entire concept of a benefit vs. risk doctrine is immoral. There is no benefit to society that can justify the forcible imposition of risks or threats to life upon individuals. Indeed, there is a straight path from accepting the benefit vs. risk doctrine for society as a whole to the philosophy we saw epitomized in Nazi Germany.

        Lastly, let me sum up my replies to all of the arguments presented here by reminding people that the nuclear power question is fundamentally a human rights issue. People have the right not to be aggressed against and used as guinea pigs in a massive human experiment. However a concern for human rights must not be equated with a craven fear of progress or challenge! Humanity has faced very difficult problems and perilous situations in the past, and shown great ingenuity in devising systems that can minimize dangers in a fashion which results in only voluntary risks being taken. But such things have to be done in a sensible way, without coercion, and with each party or industry involved taking the responsibility for his, her, or its actions.

Radiation and Human Health, by John W. Gofman, M.D. Ph.D. R&HH is a practical book which can make a positive contribution to the health of those who use it, and especially to the health of their children, who are the most sensitive to radiation injury. The book provides necessary information for making recurring personal and family decisions about voluntary exposures to medical, dental, and occupational radiation. 928 pages, hardcover, $29.95 prepaid. CNR pays for packing and shipping. Tax on Californians: $1.80.

Committee for Nuclear Responsibility
P.O. Box 421993, San Francisco, CA   94142