Postcards from a Nuclear-Free Zone, Part 1

David Bradish and I attended Helen Caldicott's book signing last night in Washington, DC at Busboys and Poets (I'm not Zagat, but I liked the place; good food, nice space, decent red wine).

There were a little over 30 people there and the event was co-sponsored by NIRS and the Nuclear-Free Takoma Park Committee.

The event began with an introduction by Linda Gunter of NIRS. She asked for donations for NIRS because they are there to help "you and people around the world" end nuclear power. She said that despite the propaganda their side is winning. She also mentioned that she was proud to be in Nuclear-Free Takoma Park. A lovely woman that I spoke to after the event pointed out to a person on that Committee that they really aren't nuclear free if they have smoke detectors, lighted exit signs and the like. The fellow from the Committee said, "Yes, we aren't unreasonable about it." Well, that's good to know!

In introducing Helen Caldicott, Gunter said that she has committed her life's work to children. Now I find that a much more compelling introduction than the constant referral to her as a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Does she know that Joseph Stalin was also nominated?

On to Caldicott's presentation. I can't possibly go through everything she said, or everything I disagreed with, so I'll start off with impressions and then try to hit the most important points.

First, Caldicott is a passionate and witty woman and I can see how she has been so effective over the years at rounding up antinuclear groups.

But the amount of hyperbole, misinformation, and questionable sources she uses is shocking. And its scary because it is repeated so often that it becomes urban legend. I'll get to specifics later but I wonder how, as a trained physician, she can ignore the preponderance of evidence from reputable and objective sources (and I'm not even talking NEI or nuclear industry sources because I realize most people won't consider them objective) and instead latch on to fringe analyses and reports that are so often clearly biased.

Caldicott began by saying that when she started writing her new book to update her previous book, Nuclear Madness, she needed help to make sure it was accurate. She praised the staff at NIRS saying that "they know everything" about nuclear and the book is accurate because of their assistance. I would argue with that statement, but not at this time.

She also said that NIRS is responsible for "holding the nuclear power industry at bay" and for that reason everyone needs to give them all the money they can afford.

Next, Caldicott specifically denounced NEI and mentioned this blog. She said that Paul Gunter (Hi Paul!) told her that NEI is "tearing apart" her book, but only used information on NEI's website to counter her claims. Then she said that we were arguing with her on the issue of strontium. I have to think that she hasn't actually read what we've written because 1)she would see that we have used plenty of sources beyond NEI reports and that the data NEI does provide is clearly referenced--often to objective sources like the International Energy Agency and 2)that there are no references to strontium in our review of her recent book. There was a post in 2005 about the latest in the Tooth Fairy study that challenged Joseph Mangano, but Caldicott was only mentioned as another example of an antinuclear activist.

Caldicott then ranted (and I mean ranted) about how the nuclear industry is supported by socialism and that it just lies. She went on and on about "the lies" including a foray into the medical effects of nuclear war and how generals love their weapons...I never really figured out the connection to commercial power, but it doesn't really matter when there is that much emotion, does it?

Then she said that if you want to destroy the US "all you have to do" is meltdown Indian Point which would destroy New York. She said that the 9/11 terrorists had the plant as a target and "she didn't know why" they didn't hit it instead of the World Trade Center. Perhaps because they had objectively studied the design of nuclear power plants and realized that they are heavily fortified and protected and that flying a plane into one wouldn't result in the kind of death and destruction they could get from so many other targets?

I was amazed when she went on to say that the nuclear industry hasn't improved security at all since 9/11. This statement is either a blatant lie or shockingly ignorant. It's a matter of public record that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued new, tighter security requirements since 9/11 and that all power plants have met them. Even antinuclear groups like Public Citizen acknowledge that security has increased even if they don't believe that it is enough. And on that topic, I refer you to this fact sheet. Yes, it is an NEI document, but the evaluations of nuclear power plant security come from independent sources such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, and the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism.

Ok, that's all the time I have right now but I'll try to post more later.