Nuclear
Junk Science? 

SIDNEY GOODMAN, P.E., M.S.M.E. / Editor, The Newark Star Ledger (New Jersey) 18nov03

[Be sure to see the Review, Table of Contents, and Excerpt of Dr Goodman's book immediately below this letter to the editor]

Sidney Goodman, PE, MSME

A high concentration of strontium 90 has been found in the baby teeth in areas surrounding nuclear power plants. An on-going study of this will carefully evaluate the significance of this. Nuclear power promoters call the investigation “Junk Science”.

The term “Junk Science” was concocted to ridicule the fact that smoking tobacco is dangerous. It was later applied to findings about global warming and other environmental effects.

Every honest investigation of radioactive contamination by highly qualified scientists has been labeled “Junk Science.

In the 1950’s, Dr. Alice Stewart was persecuted when she proved that there is no such thing as an absolutely safe does of radiation from X-rays. Further proof resulted in reducing exposure in newer machines and introducing precautions.

Dr. John W Gofman was forced to resign from his position of Associate Director of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory when he found that the rules for allowed exposure from nuclear plants were damaging. This is a man who was a nuclear pioneer with several discoveries, and who won a top award for medical research. His books on the medical effects of radiation on human health are classics.

Radiologist Dr. Ernest Sternglass invented devices for the early development of nuclear energy. When he discovered that official reports of exposure were false, and biased, he was smeared. Warehouse copies of his book “Secret Fallout” documented real junk science by the nuclear industry. Warehouse copies of his book were destroyed.

Dr. Asaaf Durokovic was chief of nuclear medicine at a VA hospital. He was fired when he protested the betrayal of our soldiers who were exposed to depleted uranium. The Pentagon continues to officially that depleted uranium harmed them, just as they denied harm from Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. Horrible illness from exposure to depleted uranium in these soldiers accompanied ghastly birth defects in their children. Uranium was detected in the semen of these soldiers.

A superb study of the effect of exposure to workers at Hanford by Dr. Thomas Mancuso was shelved because nuclear advocates did not like the results. Dr. Mancuso pioneered the science of health physics. He was forced to take early retirement, to prevent more unwelcome findings.

Dr. Karl Z Morgan, director of health physics at Oak Ridge was muzzled, and forbidden to present his findings. .

Dr. Gordon MacLeod, director of the Pennsylvania Department of Health was fired when he protested the falsification of health data from the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident.

Farmers in the Three Mile Island Area got still born cattle, illness, and birth defects in their animals. This never occurred throughout generations of farming. Many people in the area died, as discovered by Dr. Stephen Wing, an epidemiologist. Some people exhibited classic radiation sickness. Yet, “official” reports say that none of this happened.

2000 TMI victims were denied their day in court by a biased judiciary. This was based on the claim that not enough radioactivity was released to do any harm.

Independent readings by radiation Chemist Dr. Chauncey Kepford found extremely high readings 25 miles downwind of the stricken plant. There were absolutely no official meters to take readings downwind of the plant. Officials don’t know and don’t want to know that much more was released from that partial meltdown than they will ever admit. Dr. Kepford was fired from his teaching position at Pennsylvania State College.

Censorship has been the rule in other nuclear nations also. Dr. Uri Bandazhevsky, in the Soviet Union, was imprisoned for finding that the number of people harmed from the Chernobyl accident was much greater than officially stated. People who bore false testimony against him disappeared. His associate, Dr. Alexander Nicolaivesky, was beaten and left for dead.

Robert Rowen was fired at the Humboldt nuclear plant for protesting the fixing of radiation meters. I met another man, who was inspector at the Millstone plant. He was fired when he refused to falsify emission data. Millstone leaked so badly that it produced a level of fallout like fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. There was a 58 percent increase in cancer downwind of Millstone over a five year period. This fact is “junk science” of course!

The horror of nuclear weapons programs by nuclear nations has made it imperative to put a friendly face on nuclear technology. With multi-billion dollar subsidies up for grabs, anyone who has threatened boondoggles has been censored or persecuted.

There are many more people, than those mentioned, who have been repressed.

Before he resigned from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Peter Bradford said, “ The first casualty of nuclear power was the truth.” He said, “The history of nuclear power is a history of silenced concerned, rigged studies, and suppressed scientists”.

Science is supposed to be an error correcting process. This process is corrupted when subsidies are threatened.

No nation can admit that it is killing its own. Nuclear nations are doing just that.

Sidney Goodman, P.E., M.S.M.E.
Professional Engineer
Author of “Asleep at the Geiger Counter” published by Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc.
Telephone no. 201-327-5158

Asleep at the Geiger Counter:
Nuclear Destruction of the Planet and How to Stop It 

by Sidney Goodman, P.E., M.S.M.E

Order now, with secure on-line order form [at publisher's website]

ISBN: 1-57733-107-9, 268 pp., 11 illus., 6x9, paperback, $16.95

Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring. This book is about silent spring, silent summer, silent fall, and silent winter. Asleep at the Geiger Counter vigorously exposes the destructive sweep of nuclear scams and frauds. It documents why nuclear programs mean cancer everywhere, birth defects forever, the uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear weapons, increased chance of nuclear war, the undermining of our national defense, the loss of civil liberties, and unending multi-billion dollar subsidies which have been bleeding us white, while actually delaying genuine energy independence.

Responsible energy policies can give us a golden age of environmental and economic benefits, a more peaceful world, and conditions which will help rich and poor alike. We are getting the opposite of all that, sanctimoniously shrouded with a cloak of big lies. Some of those lies are so brazen, they violate the most basic laws of physics and engineering. This is explained in simple language.

The book is written from the point of view of an an engineer who has been on the front line of varied research design and development for 42 years, and also on the front line of ardent environmental activism.

Asleep at the Geiger Counter unveils frequently censored material, and much that has been forgotten by the present generation. Personal encounters and anecdotes add a touch of humor to this grim topic.

Endorsements

"Asleep at the Geiger Counter is an excellently researched book by an engineer, deeply concerned about the direction in which some science is taking the world. It is a personable account, easily accessible and, from my perspective, I found the reading fascinating. I therefore recommend this book to all who are interested in the future of the planet and to all who need to understand why the human race has made such a mess of things, particularly in the nuclear area." Dr Helen Caldicott, Founding President, Physicians for Social Responsibilty

"Asleep at the Geiger Counter is a lively account, revealing the facts of nuclear life. Read it and act to stop a dirty industry from doing its worst." Norman Cohen, Executive Director, Coalition for Peace and Freedom, and Coordinator of the Unplug Salem Campaign

Table of Contents

Preface (The roar of silence about DU poisoning in the U.S., although it made the front pages all over Europe. Urges readers to learn more about what is not covered by our media.)

1. Anecdotal Evidence (Some anecdote! A look at what is brushed off as merely anecdotal evidence.)

2. Hope and Pride (A look at the dream that nuclear technology could be of great benefit to humankind, and how I was proud to participate in a nuclear project until I learned better.)

3. Oh, What Happened to Us! (Suppressed and persecuted truth-tellers. Also includes an account of how I was pressured to approve a design which could kill people and cause extensive property damage, with a long list of how this depravity happens in industry, particularly in the nuclear industry.)

4. Is Murphy's Law Legal? (You be the judge. Starts out with how I was nearly killed by a mishap, develops mishaps throughout the ages, leading up to nuclear Murphyisms.)

5. Apple Pie (Like mother never baked. Rather than nuclear power being safer than mom's apple pie, it is a concoction of scientists who are bad apples. Parades a list of bad-apple pies from the chemical industry, the tobacco industry, and the nuclear industry.)

6. Sunshine Effects (Not heartwarming. Global warming is strongly indicated by hard-to-deny evidence.)

7. Nuclear Power ... the Only Answer (Answered. Extensive description of cleaner, safer, less costly alternatives which have been crushed.)

8. The Wind Stops Blowing (A new law of physics. Many examples of violations of elementary physics by nuclear liars. One is that the wind stops blowing when you have a nuclear accident. Explained simply.)

9. The Great Uranium Shell Game (Brazen fraud. There isn't enough fissionable uranium for a greatly expanded nuclear program without going to the plutonium reactor, which poses hideous problems. Exposes shenanigans.)

10. Really How Much Energy from Nukes? (Very low net yield. Explains how easy it is to deduce this shocking result using elementary analysis. This chapter crunches key official summary numbers to reveal the implications of the great uranium shell game.)

11. Nobody, but Nobody Died at Three Mile Island! (Holocaust denied.)

12. Have We Got a Solution for You! (Mad scientists on the march. Covers the use of nuclear waste as a fertilizer, depleted uranium, food irradiation, etc.)

13. Cleaner Than Coal (Debunks the fraudulent claim that nuclear is cleaner than coal. It isn't even cleaner than the dirtiest coal-burning operation when non-discussed factors are considered.)

14. Why Not Make Nuclear Plants Safe? (Basics of why it can't be, not ever.)

15. Your Rights (Rights denied.)

16. Sabotaging Our Security Blankets (Treason.)

17. Unfair Favoritism (Unlimited rip-off. Explains how favoritism for non-renewable energy gets much more than 300 times the government support that renewable sources get.)

18. The Point of Indian Point (Look at this poster child of the industry.)

19. We Carefully Plan the Transportation of Nuclear Poisons (The three stooges still live. Shocking evidence of absolute non-care.)

20. What About Civil Liberties? (Forget them. Nuclear technologies destroy civil liberties.)

21. Spaced Out (Nukes over our heads. Astronomical risks and costs.)

22. It's a Free Press (Theoretically. Examples of distortion and censorship.)

23. ALARA (As low as reasonably achievable. Who decides "reasonably"?)

24. Rules of Research (Ignored basics. An abstract of Dr. John Gofman's guidelines.)

25. By Executive Order (There Reagan went again. A little known edict by Reagan which proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that every nuke is a bomb-making machine, along with other info.)

26. They Want to Do It Again! (Repeating mistakes. The insanity of pushing forward with nukes again, and the faults of the latest generation of design.)

27. Denial Is Not a River in Egypt (The psychology of denial by nuclear folks, and the compulsive folly of it all.)

Appendix A. Independent Audit (Method used to debunk official claims of how much energy is available from each ton of uranium)

B. Nuremberg Principles

C. Organizations Providing Information About Nuclear Technology

D. Resolution to Abolish Price Anderson Act

Index

Excerpt

The recipients of nuclear subsidies would have you believe that nuclear power is still one of the greatest things going since sex. I will try to explain why sex is a lot better.

The king said to his flunky, "If you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it." His flunky replied, "I don't believe it." The king said, "You will." The Wizard of Id

"Reality is controlled by people who are the most insane." -Scott Adams, Dilbert, "Dogbert's First Law of Business"

When it comes to low dose radioactivity, 'tis true, 'tis true.

Radioactive substances actively disintegrate, throwing off zillions of tiny particles which are sub-microscopic bullets. A high dose of these bullets kills living cells. A low dose doesn't kill cells, it damages them. The damage is observable.

A Geiger Counter measures radioactivity. Reality, according to nuclear promoters, is that low doses are safe. They might even be good for your health. An explanation of how that bizarre claim came about is discussed later on. If you can believe that being riddled with tiny bullets is good for you, I'd like to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.

Braving the catcalls of her colleagues, Dr. Alice Stewart proved a long time ago that there is no such thing as a safe dose.

We are constantly bombarded with natural low dose radioactivity. Some of it comes from the earth, and some is from outer space. This induced cancers and birth defects throughout the ages. Doses added to that by the nuclear industry have contributed heavily to the sharp increase in cancer over the past fifty years.

"Nonsense," say the nuclear folks. The sharp cancer increase is only anecdotal evidence.

That's what they told the Mormon population, whose people were dying like flies from the low dose fallout of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. Cancer caused forty-eight of sixty-three deaths in the Escalante Valley. Fallout was not limited to the southern part of Utah. Affidavits filed in court documented widespread abnormal rates of cancer.

When congressional hearings were held, it came out that President Dwight Eisenhower issued a secret document ordering the Atomic Energy Commission to confuse the public about fission and fusion. In other words deliberate deceit was Eisenhower's order of the day. If you can't trust the government, who else can you trust? You can't trust the government.

Towns like St. George reaped a grim harvest from the fallout of nuclear poison. Thousands of sheep sickened and died abruptly.

In community after community, people died of diseases rarely seen before: leukemia, lymphoma, acute thyroid damage and many forms of cancer. These were mostly Mormons, who devoutly obeyed their Church's instructions not to smoke tobacco or drink alcohol. They lived far from industrial areas which might have sent pollution their way.

For thirty years the government denied that nuclear poison had produced this plague of misery. As early as 1959, a study disclosed excessive levels of strontium 90 in children. The study was suppressed. In 1965, another study was suppressed. This one was by U.S. Public Health Researcher Dr. Edward Weiss. He correlated radioactive fallout with the high rate of leukemia deaths in southwestern Utah. At a joint Atomic Energy Commission-White House meeting, that year, the report was knocked down by the AEC. At that time, the AEC was gearing up the nuclear power program based on the premise that the levels of radioactivity permitted were harmless. The Weiss report was shelved. This did not shelve the grotesque death rate.

In 1979, the University of Utah epidemiology director Dr. Joseph L Lyon, independently confirmed the validity of the Weiss Report. He published his findings in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In 1979, about a thousand plaintiffs accused the government of failing to inform area residents that fallout could cause cancer. The government denied this accusation. The plaintiffs produced numerous written proclamations which had been distributed by the federal government assuring harmlessness.

One widely posted statement, dated January, 1951, signed by the AEC project manager Ralph P. Johnson said, "Health and safety authorities have determined that no danger from or as a result of AEC activities may be expected. . All necessary precautions, including radiological surveys and patrolling of the surrounding territory, will be undertaken to insure that safety conditions are maintained."

The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations issued a report in 1980. The report concluded, "The government's program for monitoring the health effects of atomic tests was inadequate and, more disturbingly, all evidence suggesting that radiation was having harmful effects, be it on sheep or the people was not only disregarded but actually suppressed."

This horror was not only being heaped on Mormons but on Indians living in the area and on American soldiers who participated in atomic testing.

Details of the above are fully described in the book, Killing Our Own by Harvey Wasserman and Norman Solomon (Dell Publishing Co., Inc.).

At a Washington conference sponsored by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Harvey Wasserman related that the Mormons won a law suit against the U.S. government and were awarded damages. However, he said the government appealed the decision. For its appeal, the government argued, yes for thirty years we deliberately lied about the danger of fallout. We had to lie, the government claimed. We did it for national security. Harvey urged conference attendees never to forget the Mormon "anecdote" I didn't.

I wrote to Mr. Stewart Udall, to confirm this story. He was a U.S Congressman, a Secretary of the Interior, and he was one of the lawyers to champion the cause of Americans who were knowingly exposed to toxic radiation. He replied. "They did not use this argument in a direct way, but it was implicit in the defense they offered."

Direct or implicit, their action was the same. They committed premeditated deceit and murder. Harvey Wasserman's statement was substantially confirmed.

The government won their appeal by invoking the magic words, national defense. Sanctimonious deceit rolls on, alive and well.

Later on, bomb tests were conducted underground. There was still fallout, but not nearly as much. Our national security did not suffer one iota from the change in testing.

Some people have always been sacrificed for national security. Military commanders must order their grunts into harm's way. Risking life for a crucial battle is one thing. Risking lives for the sake of subsidies or for official stupidity is something else.

Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2002

source: http://www.bluedolphinpublishing.com/Asleep.htm 19nov03

Sidney Goodman is a licensed Professional Engineer, with a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has had 43 years experience by January, 2002, in the research and development of projects which included aerospace, commercial, industrial products, residential energy products, and consumer products. At the age of 71 in April, 2002, he still provides engineering services.

After more than 30 years with Melnor Inc., he retired as their Chief Engineer and formed his own engineering product design consulting company. Immediately after retirement, he served Melnor as a consultant. Afterwards, he provided engineering services to industry, including a great deal of work on fuel cells and fuel cell systems.

Some of his designs won awards or set the lead in industry. He supervised an energy laboratory which was the first of its type for the standardized testing of humidifiers. He worked on the design of a temperature control for a nuclear rocket.

An ardent environmental activist, Sid was president of the Paramus Environmental Council. He served as a speaker for NJ Sane, The Union of Concerned Scientists, The Safe Energy Alternatives Alliance, The Nuclear Freeze, and the Citizens Energy Council. Some of his presentations were on radio and TV. He also served as the energy coordinator for the NJ Sierra Club and the Safe Energy Alternatives Special Interest Group of Mensa.

source: http://www.bluedolphinpublishing.com/Goodman.htm 19nov03