The Top 10 ProNuclear Arguments... Answered

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

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 fullscale 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, thebenefits 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.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print