Fresno Famous

another consideration

Again, having not only handled heavy industry, heavy power, alt. power, and been associated with nukes back east?
I can only echo earlier posts that i've written about how bad an idea Nukes here are.
(yep, the major arteries out being insufficient is just a minor problem.)

Not to be awful, but if something horrible truly did happen?
Those who got taken out quick would be the lucky ones.

The problem with dealing of illness as that which has been caused or exascerbated by radioactive or chemical exposure is not always immediate, and often is incurable.

I used to handle the films and medical records for a major Radiological firm back east.
We bought out many area smaller firms.
We specialized in women's imaging,
--as well as were the radiologists for a couple of area hospitals.

There were things that were extremely recourent that could only be attributed to (both) heavy chemical and radiation exposure.
(We had both chem facilites and nukes closebye.)

Not only is the area loaded with varyng types of cancer
-This would include:
Breast, and all other reproductive parts in both males and females
but also high levels of cancer in bones, endocrine systems, you name it.

-Stranger than that?
An obscenely large degree of 'non cancerous,' fibroids in the abdomon and other cavity regions in females.

Now:
Fresno already has enough issues with skin cancer, --as well as other cancers and long range health concerns that can be traced back to use of chemicals, (pesticides, etc.)
---Why add nukes to the mix?

(Again,)
Look up the oncology health stats for the surrounding areas around any nuke in the US.
Wherever there are significant populations, there are always obscenely high levels of cancer and other health conditions that not only make life extremely complicated (medically,) if not shorten and end life prematurely.

The only reason why this area would ever consider nukes or heavy industrial (I worked mostly with petrochemical reactors,) is because of the mindset that often plagues the area:

'...Well, that's not HERE, that's SOMEWHERE ELSE... (so it does not exist.')
--the nuke companies or any company that has hazardous chems involved are playing with that in their favor and are betting on such myopia.

-Again, what are needed to convince Fresno that nukes (as well as other forms of high risk industry,) are completely unacceptable, are not a bunch of screaming neo-hippies with stink bombs, hysteria and theatre to get attention.

All that is required are the facts and track records, (as well as documented cases of life threatening life-ending health concerns around every place that these things have been allowed to exist.

Final advice:
When looking at the stats, also consider how the folks who live near the plants view life to begin with.
A plant smack dab in the middle of one country or another is not viewed the same way that it would be if it was here.

Sadly, in the immediate area around Chernobyl?
Plenty of folks have gone back to their homes.
Because it's safe?
Hardly.
It is because there was no where else for them to go.
They know they're sick, they know that they will die, their physical condition, (as well as the horrific disfigurement of their children,) have been well documented.
Look it up on Life Magazine, National Geographic... etc. There's been plenty of documetation.

---But these poor souls honestly don't think that anything better is possible, and have resigned themselves to their fate.
(Not a healthy outlook, not a standard of living that anyone here in the US,( or anywhere,) should have to settle for.

The moves of the companies who are approaching Fresno, are the same that I saw back east when a company who had a bunch of money for PR, They approach a poor area,
where jobs were needed
and the folks were uneducated as to what was really due them (should they let these facilities break ground and build.)

-I had one client (corp.) who was run out of two separate (more wealthy and knowledgable,) counties,
--before it settled in it's final area, (a poor section that didn't know what the business was about, didn't know the chemicals and tech used, ---and honestly couldn't comprehend it, (they just wanted jobs...)

They are looking at this town, (Fresno,) and the people of this town as being expendable when compared to other towns where there is more money, better education, and more potential to hustle folks out of their own health.
I hate to say it, but the fact that this technology is being proposed to here IS someone trying to take advantage of Fresno's shortcomings, it's innocence, and it's need.

Once it's done, it's done.
That it can be done, is heartbreaking.

Unless I was already diagnosed with a terminal illness, I'd not choose to live anywhere near a nuke, or any of these other industries.
I sure as hell wouldn't put my kids, (if I had any,) near them, and would further recommend, (with any such tech and potential health concern,)
-that women's groups, and medical teams that specialize in women's health keep a sharp eye on the valley, because it's usually in the women that the negative physiological effects show first.
(Again, further atrocity to insult and arrogance.)

only if Homer Simpson

is at the controls should that scenario happen
but I worry if Fresno goes nuclear, I'll move out
because the cost in $$$, water, terrorism alerts,
possible leaks & contamination is too great

if we have a nuclear meltdown, where do you run too?
we have 2 major arteries out of town, but with 500,000
trying to get out too, it would be "deadlock"

we have about 50 streets out of town,
but how long before they clogged up?

a quick primer

The Nuclear Fission Power Plant
The heated water rises up and passes through another part of the reactor, the heat exchanger. The moderator/coolant water is radioactive, so it can not leave the inner reactor containment. Its heat must be transferred to non-radioactive water, which can then be sent out of the reactor shielding. This is done through the heat exchanger, which works by moving the radioactive water through a series of pipes that are wrapped around other pipes. The metallic pipes conduct the heat from the moderator to the normal water. Then, the normal water (now in steam form and intensely hot) moves to the turbine, where electricity is produced.

After the hot water has passed through the turbine, some of its energy is changed into electricity. However, the water is still very hot. It must be cooled somehow. Many nuclear power plants used steam towers to cool this water with air. These are generally the buildings that people associate with nuclear power plants. At reactors that do not have towers, the clean water is purified and dumped into the nearest body of water, and cool water is pumped in to replace it.
http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/fission_power/fission_power.ht...

11e(2) byproduct material. The tailings or waste produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from any ore processed primarily for its source material (i.e., uranium or thorium) content. 11e(2) byproduct material is defined in Section 11e(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, as amended.
Accelerator produced. Any material made radioactive by the normal operation of a particle accelerator.
Activity. Short for radioactivity.
Activated. Describes non-fissile
http://legacystory.apps.em.doe.gov/text/link/link12.htm

What are spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste?
Spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste are materials from nuclear power plants and government defense programs. These materials contain highly radioactive elements, such as cesium, strontium, technetium, and neptunium.
Some of these elements will remain radioactive for a few years, while others will be radioactive for millions of years.
Scientists worldwide agree that the safest way to manage these materials is to dispose of them deep underground in what is called a geologic repository.
http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/factsheets/doeymp0338.shtml

Report: Nuclear sites put drinking water sources at risk
By Larry Bivins and Greg Wright, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Major sources of drinking water remain at risk of serious contamination from the nation's nuclear weapons complexes, despite billions in federal spending to clean up hazardous waste produced at these sites, according to a new report.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-03-29-nuclear-gns_x.htm

Nuclear Waste
The creation of huge quantities of long-lived radioactive waste is the most formidable problem facing the nuclear power industry today. The difficulty of waste disposal was not considered to be a big problem during the time when power plants were first introduced; it was assumed that waste could be recycled or buried. Unfortunately, finding safe ways of storing radioactive wastes so that they do not leak radiation into the environment has proved to be a much more difficult task than anticipated.
http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/nuclear_waste_body.html

overflowing wastewater at the nuke

...sooooo, we're talking radioactive wastewater and radioactive waste...

...isn't that the premise of the movie 'The Blob?'

(...it could work, I know a guy who plays creepy theremin music... and we have air national guard jets flying over all the time, (we could just photoshop in rockets coming off of them...)

and for a sequel, we could do 'Blob versus Chupacabra,'

or

'Blob versus Hoppy...'

(....Big glowing oozing mass slurping it's way down Olive, all the 60's retreads sitting there, funny smelling cigarrettes in hand, looking at it going... '...heyyyyy, it's the Blobbb! Far Out, Mannn..'
(probably run up and put daiseys and Grateful Dead stickers on the back of it... '...duuuuude, like, hold still,,, man...')

(...Blob, in a total contact high, gets the munchies, crosses over VanNess and attacks the bakery..)

(young lady in a hollister T-Shirt, and hairnet steps up to the counter which has the 85 different types of Beerocks...)

'...may I help you sir? SHRIEEEEEEEEK!!!!

(her co worker, not missing a beat, jumps in to save the day..)

'...did you know it's lunchtime, and it comes with a free soda, sir? AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!.'

...I think I have a spare 'Dead sticker or two...

...we could do this...

Lack of credibility

I think it's great that Hutson stuck his foot in his mouth and undermined his and this technology's credibility. A nuclear power plant in Fresno is a bad idea all around. In addition to the "3 things" mentioned in the other post - which apply to nuclear power in general - what goes unmentioned about the specific proposal for Fresno is that it's as much about absorbing Fresno's surplus of wastewater as it is about providing electricity. If Fresno runs out of sewage treatment capacity and the wastewater overflows the ponding basins at the treatment plant, the Federal Government could place a moratorium on new residential building in the metropolitan area - and the developers and politicians can't allow that to happen less the local economy collapse.

silly me,

I just figured out the answer to my question

and how does nuclear power & unemployment play into each other? What's the connection?

its "FRESNO", must be people in SF think we're barbarians, so to them, 1+1+1=5: (High unemployment)+(lack of nuclear power)+(Fresno)= (Domestic Violence)
why, its simple math, how silly of me, doe-de-doe, away we go

The only thing worse than the logic this person is claiming?

Is that anyone would give it any time or crediblity whatsoever.

I am amazed that this person knows how to tie their own shoelaces.

(...I live in an area where LOTS of guys, (and gals,) hold down regular jobs, -and then come home to slap around the spouse and kids...

-OH wait... it's because they're not working at NUCLEAR PLANTS...

(...how stoned was this person when they made this comment?)

violence caused by?

while unemployment may be 1 causative factor (or trigger mechanism) for domestic violence; the cycle probably has several major chain-of-events that lead up to it

for a major paper like the SF Chron to imply that it is a major cause, is too simplistic, bad reporter, bad editor.

and how does nuclear power & unemployment play into each other? What's the connection?

if they want a Pulitzer Prize for that, they need to write a more in-depth series on both

BTW, I don't typically read the SF Chron

3 things

many moons ago (about 30 years ago), I found an interesting article that stated several things about nuclear power;

1. that the total cost was subsidized by the US gov, because it takes more power to mine, process & manufacture fuel rods, than the power it will put out for the life of the reactor (the reason is to have a ready supply of spent fuel for processing into weapons-grade material, ala Iran today)
2. that a nuclear reactor was nothing more than a glorified steam-powered tea kettle, no sci-fi, hi tech mystical stuff happens
3. that the waste material was hard to dispose of (they still haven't found more than the Hanford Wa. dump since, Yucca Mtn has been fought for years by locals)
http://www.hanfordwatch.org/

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/1825

those facts haven't changed in 30 years, just that many people don't know it, never bothered to learn or don't care