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The agency is, nevertheless, proposing to authorize the use of PCB transformers "indefinitely", saying that it would cost industry too much to replace the equipment.

DART'S POINT

It's said that Ronald Reagan pays a good bit of heed to the advice given him by members of his so-called "kitchen cabinet": a group of wealthy southern California friends. Well, among that elite clique is industrialist Justin Dart . . . and we thought you might be interested in some of the comments recently attributed to this gentleman by the Los Angeles Times.

"I loathe environmentalists," said Dart. "I say we should preserve redwoods . . . maybe 100 acres of them, to show the kids. Those environmentalists who talk about preserving the wilderness in Alaska . .. how many goddamned bloody people will end up going there in the next 100 years to suck their thumbs and write poetry?"

A further quote: "If Watt wants to put five or six oil wells out there," he said, pointing to the ocean view from his Pebble Beach home, "God bless him."

And here's yet another Dart-ism that speaks for itself: "Ronald Reagan is a real leader . . . but he's not the most brilliant man I've met."

NUCLEAR NOTES

Admiral Hyman Rickover, who's known as "the father of the nuclear Navy"—and who is as responsible as any individual for the development of nuclear power in this countrywas forced to retire recently because of his advanced age (he's over 80).

In parting, the legendary officer said, in a reference to atomic submarines, that he'd just as soon "sink 'em all". Moving on to the subject of nuclear power in general, Rickover observed, "Every time you produce radiation, you produce something that has a life, in some cases for billions of years, and I think the race is going to wreck itself. It's important that we get control of this horrible force and try to eliminate it."

Surprised at the source of those comments? Well, try to guess who said this: "There is a high, increasing likelihood that someday soon—during a seemingly minor malfunction at any of a dozen or more nuclear plants around the United States—the steel vessel that houses the radioactive core is going to crack like a piece of glass. The result will be a core meltdown, the most serious kind of accident, which will injure many people, destroy the plant, and probably destroy the nuclear industry with it."

Is that a warning from Ralph Nader? David Brower? A citizens' activist group? Nope . . . that's a quote from an engineer employed (the last we heard) by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission!

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