A Little Nuclear Energy Humor
The pro-nuke group that has me on its email distribution list has some extremely intelligent and highly educated people, most of whom take this subject extremely seriously. Occasionally I tell them to take a few deep breaths; all that rancor isn’t helping.
Maybe some of them took my advice. Now, they’re talking about a mock campaign to show how silly all the anti-nuke sentiment is, and how most scientifically illiterate people gobble all this up.
It started when one member noticed that people at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Tennessee Valley Authority really didn’t understand this any better than the average protester at a nuclear plant. He wrote: “I just wanted you all to see what you are up against. Even a board member of the TVA spouts histrionics over the thought of even the tiniest release of tritium.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Tennessee Valley Authority must be vigilant in maintaining the safety protocols at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Alabama after last week’s tritium leak, writes the editorial board of The Huntsville Times. “Any release of radioactive material into our drinking water supply, even a small amount diluted by millions of gallons of cooling water, isn’t good,” the board writes. The board stresses the importance of assuring the public that the plant is “operating as safely as possible and not polluting the river with radioactive material.”
From there, a few group members started cutting up. Here are a few excerpts:
• Ban the banana. Potassium, which is 0.0117% potassium-40, is a radioactive isotope with a 1.28 billion year half-life.
• Medical use of radiation must be terminated immediately. No matter the precautions, there is risk of accidental exposure. Companies manufacturing radiation equipment must close immediately.
• All radon must be eliminated wherever it exists despite the cost since we can no longer tolerate the risk.
• All airlines must cease business, or switch to flying at a few hundred feet.
At least a few people are enjoying themselves out there.
