Scarlet & Black, May a, urn—page 5

 

opcmopocc
Lt

3%

Policy and decisions being made
now regarding nuclear power,
plutonium breeder reactors in
particular, may very well seal the
final destiny of mankind. This area

éof such far reaching potential
pact that the ‘decision by crises
method‘, so widespread in business
and government today, must give
way to rational long range plan
§ng Although we as individuals
ou d reap the benefits of nuclear
power, it will be future generations
which will be taking many of the
risks,

Do you as a student, citizen, and
individual feel that you know

openopoce

enough to make a responsible
decision on this ‘critical matter"?
Your votes, letters, leadership, and
business decisions could
significantly affect the outcome.

The nuclear reactors now in
operation are known as light-water
reactors. They run on an isotope of
uranium U235, which is quite
scarce, Present estimates of
supplies range from enough to run
reactors for 14 more years to
enough for 15 more years, After
that time, fastrbreeder reactors
running on Plutonium would be the
base of the nuclear fission in-
dustry, There is thought to be six
times as much energy recoverable
from plutonium breeders as is
available from coal, oil, natural
gas and U235 combined. Hence,
the decision of whether or not to go
with the breeder is the turning
point in the use of atomic fission
energy,

Plutonium is a highly toxic
substance. known to cause cancer
in minute amounts. Its halfrlife is
24,000 years which means that it
would remain toxic for over a
million years. Not only will this
product persist but other sub
stances, some of which present
more acute biological hazards, are
also produced in the process of the
reaction and decay scheme,

There are thought to be three
major areas in which plutonium is
a hazard. The first is a reactor
melt-down, a catastrophe resulting

 

opemopoce

by Bob Sheeler

in massive release of radioactive
products into the local en-
vironment due to technical or
human error. The likelihood of this
is small, but not negligible, The
other two are the radioactive waste
problem, and gthe problem of
sabotage and theft of nuclear
materials.

Waste disposal remains a
paramount problem. No method of
absolute certainty has yet been
proposed to permanently lock
these wastes away from the
general environment and the water
table. Present proposals range
from burial in the sea and in deep
Salt mines to space shots with
nuclear waste payloads. None of
these are known to be safe from
future geological disturbances or
other accidents, One site in Kan»
sas, an old salt mine, was aban»
doned just before the final go
ahead was given to deposit high
level wastes when massive leaks in
the area due to earlier drilling
operations were discovered.
Furthermore, our record to date
with nuclear wastes has been poor,
Many wastes have been stored in
‘temporary‘ tanks of non-stainless
steel since their creation over
thirty years ago. One storage
facility in Hanfrod, Washington, is
known to have leaked or spilled
over half-a-million gallons of high
level wastes due to rusting out of
the tanks.

The other major problem is with

1‘ “Live” better on side two

by Pica Brown

“Jeff Beck and the Jan Hammer
Group-Live." produced by Jan
gunner for Epic Records:

“Live” is a fairly good live
album, the kind that grows on you.
On first listening, its faults were
apparent, but three of four spins
revealed its listening quality. The
music is progressive jazzerock,
with sometimes questionable doses
of R&B thrown in.

Side one starts with “Freeway
.. ,” an average rocker, but
s ehow lacking the drive and
excitement needed for live per
formance. Apparent here, as
{*iughout the album, is Ham-
mer's synthesizeritechnically
admirable with its fast riffs and
bent notes, but monotonous after
about a minute. Beck punches out
some good guitar licks, but one
wonders if he isn't overrated.
McLaughlin might sound better.

Anyway, “Earth (still our only
home)" follows and Hammer's
vocals unfortunately snag the
listener's attention, Jan, mainly a
pianist and synthesist, has a clear,

In the next song, “She’s a
Woman" ta Lennon and Mc
Cartney song), the R&B influence
is appropriate and Beck’s lalk~box
i; k is most enjoyable Until tllls,
was I at the concert where this
was taped, i might have been a

shade disappointed

But the R&B influence doesn’t
quite cut lt on the next one. “Full
Moon Boogie" is too full of R&B
cliches: even the lyrics lack the
imagination usually tound in Jan
Hainmer’s work. The‘ only in-

 

teresting part is a three-way solo
battle between .l. Beck's guitar,
Hammer’s synthesiser, and Steven
Kindler's Violin '

On side two, things improve
immediately, “DarkneSSanrth in
Search of a Sun" is a trip to listen
to. Hammer finally exploits the
virtually unlimited synthesizer to
new moaning and wailing heights,
and me cut’s excitement surpasses
its studio debut on Hammer’s
“First Seven Days" album con-
siderably. The group seems more
alive as well, though throughout
”Live," the music is tight and wells
rehearsed.

Next, “Scatterbrain” is in-
troduced by slow electric piano
changes, manipulated by Beck in a

Record
Rev1ew

most satisfactory, bluesey way.
This soon modulates to uptempo

staccato riffs-exiting, exemplary
of Hammer and C035 musical
faculties, The final cut, "Blue
Wind," from Beck‘s “Wired"
albuml should satisfy rockers and
jazz-rock bums alike, with Beck
showing some fine guitar work
although at one point he breaks
into a riff which could be mistaken
for Aerosmlth's “Train Kepfra-
Rollin" " with little difficulty, Good
rock influence. but what about
mUSlcal plagiarism?

One of the best traits of “Live" is
its excellent production and
recording. its clean. omits those

ridiculous minutes of audience
reaction. and is specially recorded
to approximate the actual stage
setup stereophonically. But
Hammer’s "Oh, Yeah?“ is more
imaginative musically with fewer
sour spots; and while Jeff Beck
enhances Hammer's music, he
may be a bit overrated. All in all.
however, “Live” isn't bad. Not
great, but not bad.

HOUSE PAINTING

Indoor-Outdoor
Experienced Crew

Free estimates
Call Pat Irwin mm
Mike Sugannxl E-mll

step up to

J D’S R ESTAU RANT .
COCKYAIL LOUNGE

-' Elevatedat'szzuluain ..

thru Fri.
‘lhru Thurs“
Fri.. 82L. 4

 

opcnopoce

diversion of plutonium for non-
peaceful uses and the sabotage of
nuclear facilities it takes only 10-
20 pounds of plutonium to produce
a thermonuclear weapon. India
has already acquired nuclear
capabi ties via such a route. The
possibility mat other countries and
terrorist groups could do the same
is a major problem, considering
the vast amounts of plutonium that
would exist if it were to be adopted
as the major reactor fuel. The
possibility of sabotage of a nuclear
plant or its use as a military target
can not be discounted either.
Recently. a hijacker threatened to
crash the 747 he had taken over intc
a nuclear power plant if his
demands were not met.

One of the major present
arguments for nuclear power is its
lower cost. This lower cost is only a
public relations mirage when all of
the operations now federally
subsidized or performed directly
with tax dollars are considered.
Nuclear research and develop-
ment, fuel enrichment and
fabrication, inspection and
regulation are all done by the
federal government at present.
Another major hidden cost is the
short lifespan of a nuclear plant,
about thirty ywrs, after which the
plant (much of it highly cone
taminated) must be dissembled
and safely stored at a cost several
times that of its construction, The
most appalling aspect of all is a

Hamburgers, Fries,
Shakes, Ice Cream

5th St Main

 

openbpocc

A little something for the ancestors

congressional law known as the
PricerAndelson Act which limits
liability for a nuclear accident to
560 million dollars, only 20 per cent
of which the power company is
responsible for, the other on per
cent federally insured (another
subsidy). Estimates on the
potential damage from a reactor
in lt-down range from 14 to 230
hi ion dollars, which makes the
actual liability rather
meaningless.

What conclusions do you draw
from this data? It has been enough
to cause many responsible
organizations, among then the
National Council of Churches, to
call for a moratorium on nuclear
technology until former research
efforts into safe waste disposal and
other problems have yielded viable
solutions.

The breeder reactor is not the
curevall to energy problems that it
was initially thought to be.
Proceeding with this form of
technology before finding answers
to the long-term problems it
creates raises serious moral and
ethical questions. Other renewable
sources of energy such as solar,
wind, geothermal, and possibly
nuclear fusion, could very well be
safer and more responsible
avenues to travel for our energy
needs. In the mean time why not
comply with Uncle Jimmy and
conserve some of what we
squander.

unmomn
PRBDRIPIIIINS

415 Sixth Ave.
Grinnell. la.
Ph. 236-3663
After hours:
Tf 136-3763

NEDlClhE
C-ESTs

, . WHERE IT COSTS LESS
TO KEEP HEALTHY ‘

 

Open 7 u.m. to 1 1 p.m.

seven days a week

to serve you

 

