sbs program tonight, page-16

Hi bendo,

I agree with your point of view.

There can be no denying that Chernobyl was a disaster which has blighted the lives of not a few people, not to mention those who actually died as a direct result. And who is to say that an event like Chernobyl will be the worst disaster to ultimately be spawned by the use of nuclear power?

Nevertheless, for what my opinion is worth, I hardly think that Chernobyl serves as a serious deterrent to the use of nuclear power. I think that, were there even ten times that number of victims, the price for the benefits it promises is cheap.

Is that a terrible thing to say? I don’t think so.

Think for a moment of the advent of the motor vehicle. How much poorer would our standards of living be without it? Yet, how marvelous if history could point to only 4000 or so victims of the technology! Nothing comes without a price.

I realize that all of the answers are not in yet with regard to such things as the disposal of dangerous nuclear waste. I realize too that nuclear reactors could make devastating targets for terrorist or enemy missiles and bombs. I am confident, however, that answers to such problems can and will be found.

Like John Howard, I also would have no objection to the establishment of a nuclear power plant in the vicinity of my home. From what I have read, modern reactors are far safer anyway than the one at Chernobyl.

Cheers,

Tez