A Little Peek From Last Night's Debate:
Last night's debate on nuclear risks starred Jiminy Cricket, played by Ed Smith of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and loveable, but not too terribly honest Pinocchio, played by Scott Bond of Ameren Missouri - the utility company that operates the Callaway Nuclear plant in Missouri.
The debated was headlined to be on the subject of nuclear risks, I think it could have been more aptly entitled the financial risks of nuclear power - but that's just me, when I think of risks I think in terms of safety risks; plant meltdown, nuclear leaks, terrorist attacks, chemical invasion of our food and water supply... those kinds of risks. But that OK I learned so much from Pinocchio, I really was amazed.
Pinocchio, oh, sorry, Scott Bond (the Ameren Missouri guy) started the debate with the four points about nuclear energy:
- It is safe.
- It is clean.
- It is reliable.
- It is affordable.
Ameren is not concerned at this point that it has no dry cask storage system in the works because they are good for ten more years to keep piling their spent fuel into the pool they have been using since the plant opened in 1984.
Ameren fully expects the DOE (Department of Energy) to take possession of this spent fuel and cart it away for long-term permanent storage. I wish I could share that same solid faith in the U.S. Government. They have been working on this since the 1970's and it hasn't happened yet.
After awhile I just shook my head in disbelief that some one could sit there and spin the facts and bald face lie about facts and expect the audience not to see through this. Another thing that bothered me was this was to be a two-man debate, informal albeit, letting both speakers go on for almost as long as they wanted on their subject. But during the public questioning period Ameren had even more help, yet another employee that would take the floor eager to answer this question or that. In football that is called piling on. I felt a bit sad for Ed Smith, the single man to speak for the other side, but he did hold his own. In the end really no minds were changed, people vented and challenged.
Some "elderly" woman did yell out at one point in the question/answer period when Pinocchio was speaking, "Bull Shit, that's just complete bull shit!" Wow, maybe I should have gotten her name, come to think of it I do know her.
Are you that lady? I can't imagine you sat there quietly. It sounds like the fix is in, Annie. There's no getting through the wall of obfuscation the nuclear industry has built around the issue of spent fuel. It's like they expect a magical solution to arise. It ain't gonna happen. I wonder if these guys are truly aware of the problem, and hiding it; or are they so dense that they believe their own rap? It's always difficult to pin this down. Anyway, thanks for the report.
ReplyDeleteOh, the fix is in alright! Sad but true. If I heard it once I heard it twenty times.. "we have experience no deaths in any of the 'events' at our nuclear plants.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess we sit back and wait for people to die [any volunteers?] then once they do perhaps, if it can't be explained away, then we just might make some advancement.
When someone in the audience mentioned Germany's step toward "De-necularization" - Pinocchio called it a political move, that was when I lost it. Responding to the will of the people a political move, my what a novel idea.
You go, Annie.
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