:Nuclear Energy: a Tragic Waste
3y Christa Williams
Dec. 25, 1993 - The nearby Fermi II
iuclear power plantbore arather undesir-
ble gift unto the world: 1.5 million gallons
if radioactive water, the result of a "minor
ncident." The accident and the silence
urrounding it are not unusual. The Nuclear
gulatory Commission (NRC)docu-
nented 30,000 mishaps at U.S. nuclear
>ower plants from 1979 to 1987, and hardly
nyoneever heardabout the partial core
neltdown that occurred at Fermi I in 1963.
The problem with nuclear power
eaches further than this one accident. It
eaches further than the fact that, in 1990,
he NRC calculated the risk of a "severe
ore meltdown" at 45 percent within 15
rs. The grand problem is the industry's
lisregard for truth, justice and environ-
nental health.
The facts surrounding the Fermi
acident demonstrate this problem on a
mall scale. In terms of truth: citizens were
ot informed of the true nature of the
ccident until the water was about to be
umped into Lake Erie. Then, most were
v given the basic understanding thatby
nce a turbine blade broke off, causing a
ire in the generator. Only a few, who dug
eeper, discovered the negligence that
iarped the turbine, failed to replace it, and
id not train workers to handle the emer-
ency. Regarding the environment: the
ersistent radionuclides introduced into
ake Erie are considered toxic substances.
they bioaccumulate in the food chain
h the potential to cause genetic damage,
Y ! /
cancer, etc. As forjustice: Detroit Edison,
owners of Fermi II - following the
example of other toxic industries by making
a deal to store their waste with the
Mescalero Apaches -pay such communi-
ties to become "volunteers" in a scheme,
rather like giving a few people on a sinking
boat the power to throw their shipmates
overboard in order to stay afloat. Of course,
it was the salesman's parents who put the
passengers on a sinking ship in the first
place.
Overshadowing these problems are the
two biggest lies that keep the whole thing
going. First, in calculating the cost per
kilowatt hour of nuclear power the industry
only includes operating costs, telling us it
costs 2cents. Adding plant construction,
already the cost goes up to 12 cents, more
than coal, gas, and even wind power.
Including the cost of decommissioning a
plant, an incalculable cost, as no one knows
what wages those who monitor the persis-
tent waste will be paid 40,000 years from
now (never happens), but it is estimated that
dismantling a plant will cost more than
constructing one. Hmmm ... 22 cents?
The second lie is that nuclear power is
necessary. A government subcommittee on
energy conservation calculated that creating
building regulations that included passive
solar building technology would save 2
trillion megawatts of power between the
years 1990 and 2000. Nuclear energy at
most could provide 1 million megawatts
in that time. This leaves to wonder why
Reagan took the solar panels off the White
House and increased funding to nuclear
energy. A question for another time.
Williams is afirst-year medical student.
Is Clinton a liberal?
President Clinton's nomination of fed-
eral appeals Judge Stephen Breyer to the
Supreme Court raises a serious question,
that of his predisposition to be unable to
stick to any overarching or consistent lib-
eral philosophy. His choice of Breyer -
despite criticism that Clinton's choice to
fill Justice Harry Blackmun's seat on the
court lacks diversity (this is incorrect,
Breyer is Jewish) - is a direct attempt to
avoid any type of congressional battle over
a liberal court nominee. With his health
care legislation pending in both the Senate
and the House, Clinton seems afraid of
being contentious. For some reason, he is
running scared from the GOP. He dumped
Bruce Babbitt, a devout environmentalist,
out of fear of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
The courtdesperately needs an intellectually
potent liberal to counter the conservative
antics of Justice Anton Scalia. Breyer is an
able and well-qualified jurist. But Babbitt
had political experience and a clear liberal
streak. Clinton must stick to his guns and
fight for what he (hopefully) believes in.
-Jason Lichtstein
iiorgive, but do not
forget
On May 10, 1994, the nation of South Africa was reborn.
Nelson Mandela became the first truly popularly elected
president of that nation. F. W. de Klerk, who once had been a
firm proponent of South Africa's Apartheid policies, took an
oath to serve beneath Nelson Mandela as a vice president.
Looking upon Nelson Mandela, you seea man who spent 27
yearsinprison,amanwhosawgreatsufferingandinjustice.But
in Mandela's inaugural speech, there was no sense of bitterness
and no call for retribution. He said instead: "The time for the
healing of woundshas come.Themoment to bridge the chasms
that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us."
There are veryfew people whocan hold the memoriesofan
oppression as terrible as that of Apartheid without a sense of
vengefulness. The Martin Luther Kings, the Gandhis, the
Mandelas of the world are truly heroes. They allow nations to
cast off the sins of the past, and guide us to a more just future.
What they do is very difficult: these people simultaneously
acknowledge a history of oppression while strivinglto create a
better future free of revenge and retaliation.
As recent news events remind us, the past can haunt us all
too well.If weremember every pastinjustice, every past battle,
every sleight from bygone years, then wecan tooeasily become
enmeshed in old vendettas and blood feuds. On our television
screens are images fromRwanda.Bloated bodies float byinthe
river. The dead casually line the streetsof the capital city Kigali.
The rest of world observes, but tries not to look too closely. I
wonder what crime long ago spawned this tribal conflict be-
tween the Tutsis and the Hutus. What old deed could have
sparked this cycle of violence that has now culminated in the
deaths of hundreds of thousands?
Remembering the past too well gives us tragedies like
Bosnia. The Serbs, the Croats and the Muslims recall battles
from hundreds of years ago. Old victories and losses are the
justification for the bombardment of today's cities. The chil-
drenofSarajevobecomeanothergenerationwhichwillperson-
ally remember the atrocities, both old and new.
Though remembering too well leads to bloodshed, there is
peril in the alternative - forgetfulness. It is easy to shrg off
the past and dismiss the responsibilities we have to it. We can
recognize themostextreme formsofhistoricalamnesiainthose
who profess that the Holocaust never occurred. Howeverless
obvious formsof historical amnesia abound.
It's been three decades since the Civil Rights Act was
passed.Today,there are many who wouldliketothink the Civil
Rights struggle is over and who would like to forget the Jim
Crow and miscegenation laws, the separate fountains and
facilities. The person who forgets the centuries of slavery and
the decades of lynchings has no active responsibility to the
racism of today; this person can be a passive bystander to the
poverty and the social inequities which remain today. By
forgetting the past, we can live all too comfortably with the
legacies of yesterday's injustice.
There are many who would like to forget the internment
of Japanese Americans in World War II; an effort to place
historical markers at the internment camps was met with
opposition. Some would rather forget the violent displace-
ment of Native Americans by European settlers; it is then
easier to ignore the poverty and alcoholism on Indian reser-
vations. Some would rather forget the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo; we can then eat the grapes which have cost the lives
of migrant worker children.
Isend the deepest congratulations to Mr. Mandela.Itis easy
to remember the past too well, and to perpetuate a cycle of
retribution.Itis alsoeasy to forget thepast, and torefuse to bear
responsibility for it. In between these two paths is a most
difficult one. South Africa has received a gift - blessed are
the peacemakers who can guide the peoples and their nations
between these paths.
41 's Diner: Notes from NELP
y Allison Stevens
ALTON BAY, N.H. - Where to
tart? That's always the question I never
wer quite right. First, I'd like to
elcome you, my reader, to the electro-
hemical halitosis meningitis neuroses
ransposing from the internal nebulae of
y brain onto this cheap newsprint. (You
hould be able to tell that I'm not a
cience major by now.) Welcome! It's not
ften that I share so much with a virtual
tranger. But hey, like the old adage says
albeit quite incorrectly), "There's no
h thing as a stranger, only friends you
aven't met." That's kind of how I'm
nticipating NELP, at least in the ideal
ense. No, NELP is not the newest
ynonym for shankbone, nor is it an
cronym for Nerds Everywhere Look
allid.
Actually, as you might have guessed,
ELP stands for the New England
erature Program, and this is my new
idence for the next seven weeks.
In case you're wondering, the premise
f NELP is a bunch of Thoreau wannabes
ike myself who go to pseudo-Walden Pond
o study American literature, write and
hike naked. Hey, at least we're being what
we wannabe. I had heard that NELP was a
fantastic experience, and I believed it, but
I didn't know exactly why.
After finals ended, 37 University
students and I hopped in four U-M vans
complete with fuzzy radio and stocked with
Twizzlers and Sun Chips, and drove 17
hours to Alton Bay, N.H., with an over-
night stop in "The Dutchman" where there
were bugs in the showers, stains on the
sheets, and the interior decoration in
commemoration to Liberace.
When we arrived at NELP on a cold,
dark, rainy night, I still didn't know why
NELP had such a fantastic reputation. Tick
season was in full swing, there were no
cabins with heat, and I was chillin' with 37
students I had met about 24 hours ago.
Furthermore, there were the rules. I could
handle the no drug and alcohol policy.
Maybe I could get a natural high. I could
handle letters for a while, and even the fact
that bathing suits were conspicuously
absent from the packing list. But no music!
No music! The closest thing I'll get to
music is a shoddy, off-key rendition of John
Denver's classic, "Rocky Mountain High"
sung by yours truly crying in a bog during
a downpour while lost. What the hell is
this place? Primitive Living 101? What
was I thinking when I applied to this
program?
I threw back my head in a frenzied
desperation, fell to my knees, and inspired
by the immortal words of Isiah Thomas,
looked up. And in the storied sky of stars I
found an answer. Having last seen the
pathetic, pink Ann Arbor night sky,
polluted with stress and good-byes, the
shimmering stars emerged in the sky like
pins, pricking my numb fingers. I felt a
clarity, a simplicity standing in the cool
night. A shooting star then streaked across
the sky, like chalk on a blackboard. But
unlike as in classic literature, the flaming
meteor did not represent chaos. Rather, it
paralleled alatent smile streaking across
my tense cheeks.
It seemed to say, "Challenge the order
of the world. Fly through life like a chalky
diamond on a used blackboard, leaving
your mark as you dissolve into dust." Now
I know why I came to NELP.
Stevens is afringe travelling member of the
Daily opinion staff.