This page briefly outlines the answers to a student's questions about EFN, whoich are also the most frequently asked by our visitors about our oraganization and its activities.

Firstly, could you present your organization's aims ?

ENVIRONMENTALISTS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY SEEKS TO PROVIDE COMPLETE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD INFORMATION ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT. TO THIS END:

1. WE PUBLISH A BOOK OF EPONYMOUS TITLE - ORIGINAL IN FRENCH, NOW PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH, ROMANIAN AND JAPANESE VERSIONS, WITH ADDITIONAL VERSIONS IN PREPARATION : GERMAN, ITALIAN, HUNGARIAN, RUSSIAN, ETC.

2. WE MAINTAIN A MULTILINGUAL WEBSITE - WWW.ECOLO.ORG - INCLUDING EXTENSIVE DOCUMENTATION. YOU MIGHT ESPECIALLY WISH TO READ THE PAPERS ON CHERNOBYL BY JACQUES FROT AND ANDRE AURENGO, TWO OF OUR PROMINENT CONTRIBUTORS (click on the French flag, then on Documents, then on Chernobyl(Tchernobyl in French). English language documents are identified by the Union Jack)

3. WE HAVE ABOUT 6000 SUPPORTERS AND MEMBERS IN OVER 40 COUNTRIES AND LOCAL CORRESPONDENTS IN MANY COUNTRIES AND REGIONS.

4. WE HAVE A COMMUNICATIONS GROUP WHICH DELIVERS LECTURES TO SMALL GROUPS IN SCHOOLS, CLUBS, ASSOCIATIONS, ETC; THIS GROUP PARTICIPATES IN DEBATES, IN PUBLIC MEETINGS AND ON RADIO AND TV; PREPARES POSITION PAPERS FOR PUBLICATION IN VARIOUS MEDIA; WRITES LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR TO CORRECT ERRORS OF FACT, ETC.

5. WE DISTRIBUTE A NEWSLETTER IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH.

6. WE APPEAR AT STANDS IN PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL FAIRS.

Secondly, what qualifications do you and your members have in science and also in communicating science?

OUR MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN TO ALL CITIZENS WHO APPROVE OUR GOALS. MANY OF US ARE PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS, PROFESSIONAL SCIENTISTS AND WE ALSO HAVE SOME ENGINEERS WITH LIFELONG EXPERIENCE IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. AS AN EXAMPLE, THE WRITER HOLDS A PHD IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND WAS UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND RESEARCH WORKER FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS. BRUNO COMBY, PRESIDENT, IS A WORLD-FAMOUS ENVIRONMENTALIST, GRADUATE OF THE FRENCH "ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE" WITH A POST-GRADUATE QUALIFICATION IN NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND WORK EXPERIENCE WITH THE FRENCH NATIONAL ELECTRICAL COMPANY). YOU MAY CONSULT THE DOCUMENTS PAGES OF THE WEBSITE WHERE OUR PUBLICATIONS ARE POSTED.

Thirdly, our project is based around what we see as declining levels of fossil fuels. How do you see the future of energy production, and do you see any problems with our current methods of energy consumption? (For the purpose of this project, we are regarding nuclear fuel as separate from oil, coal, and gas).

THE WORLD'S RESERVES OF OIL AND GAS ARE COUNTED IN DECADES, AND WE REGULARLY CONSUME MORE THAN WE DISCOVER IN NEW RESERVES. THE RESERVES OF COAL ARE ESTIMATED TO LAST TWO OR THREE CENTURIES. RESERVES OF URANIUM AND THORIUM HAVE HARDLY BEEN TOUCHED TO DATE; VAST QUANTITIES OF URANIUM ARE DISSOLVED IN THE SEA AND READILY RECOVERABLE AT REASONABLE COSTS; COMPARABLY LARGE QUANTITIES OF THORIUM ARE FOUND IN MINERAL DEPOSITS. THESE RESERVES WILL LAST THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THE COST OF THE MINERAL IS A VER SMALL PART OF THE COST OF A NUCLEAR KILOWATT-HOUR, SO WE CAN AFFORD TO PAY SUBSTANTIALLY MORE FOR NUCLEAR FUEL WITHOUT MUCH INCREASING THE PRICE OF ELECTRICITY. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE COST OF FOSSIL FUEL WEIGHS HEAVILY IN THE PRICE OF FOSSIL ELECTRICITY AND WHEN THEY BECOME SCARCE THE PRICE OF FOSSIL ELECTRICITY WILL SKY-ROCKET.

Fourthly, do you see sustainable energy, especially solar, wind, biomass and hydro as having any major role in future energy productions?

THE GROWTH OF LARGE-SCALE HYDRO IS LIMITED BY THE AVAILABILITY OF UNEXPLOITED SITES.

MICROHYDRAULIC PLANTS, SOLAR (PHOTOVOLTAIC AND DIRECT HEATING), WIND AND BIOMASS EACH HAS A PLACE ON THE PALETTE OF ENERGY RESOURCES. HOWEVER NONE OF THEM IS CAPABLE OF SUPPLYING THE ENERGY NEEDS OF OUR INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION.

THOSE RENEWABLE ENERGIES, NOTABLY WIND POWER, SHOULD BE DEVELOPED (BY THE ADVANCED COUNTRIES) AND MADE AVAILABLE TO UNDEVELOPED COUNTRIES TO BRIDGE OVER THEIR ENERGY NEEDS UNTIL THEY BECOME LARGE ENOUGH TO REQUIRE INDUSTRIAL QUANTITIES OF ENERGY. AT THAT TIME, THEY MAY WISH TO INSTALL THE MODULAR NUCLEAR REACTORS PRESENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT, FOR EXAMPLE.

Finally, what gives nuclear energy an edge over other forms of energy in terms of cost, environmental issues, safety to the public, and longevity?

COST - NUCLEAR IS ALREADY COMPETITIVE AND WILL BECOME MORE SO - SEE ABOVE

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS - NUCLEAR WASTES ARE A MILLION TIMES SMALLER THAN FOSSIL WASTES, AND COMPLETELY CONFINED. NUCLEAR GENERATES NO CARBON DIOXIDE - GREENHOUSE GAS. BURNING COAL RELEASES MERCURY AND OTHER HEAVY METALS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT AND MORE URANIUM THAN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY. NUCLEAR WASTES CAN BE SAFELY DISPOSED OF IN DEEP GEOLOGICAL REPOSITORIES. 

SAFETY - WELL DESIGNED, WELL CONSTRUCTED AND WELL MANAGED NUCLEAR IS SAFE. A "CULTURE" OF SAFETY MUST BE DEVELOPED AND MAINTAINED LIKE THAT IN THE AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY, AS WELL AS IN NUCLEAR ENERGY IN FRANCE AND ESPECIALLY IN THE US NUCLEAR NAVY, FOR EXAMPLE.

LONGEVITY - SEE ABOVE.

THE DANGERS OF RADIATION ARE A MYTH - THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE MADE TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE LIVE IN A BATH OF NATURAL RADIATION MUCH MORE INTENSE THAN THE INDUSTRIAL CONTRIBUTION OF RADIATION. THE "ENVIRONMENTAL" PROGRAM TO ELIMINATE THE LAST TRACES OF "ARTIFICIAL" RADIATION CONSTITUTES AN ENORMOUS WASTE OF EFFORT TO NO USEFUL END.

THERE HAVE BEEN TWO MAJOR ACCIDENTS IN CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY - THREE MILE ISLAND (TMI) IN 1979 AND CHERNOBYL IN 1986. THE TMI REACTOR WAS BUILT IN A CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE AND VIRTUALLY ALL THE RADIOACTIVITY WAS CONFINED - NO ONE WAS KILLED AND NO ONE WAS MUCH IRRADIATED. THE CHERNOBYL REACTOR WAS OF UNSAFE DESIGN AND THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED DURING A BUNGLED EXPERIMENT - ABOUT 40 PERSONS DIED AND 2000 CASES OF THYROID CANCER HAVE OCCURRED AND BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TREATED. IF IODINE TABLETS HAD BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO THE POPULATION (AS IT WAS IN NEIGHBORING POLAND), THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO CANCERS. CHERNOBYL CAN IN FACT BE DESCRIBED AS A SOVIET ACCIDENT WHICH OCCURRED IN A NUCLEAR SETTING, MORE THAN AS A NUCLEAR ACCIDENT. FURTHER SIMILAR ACCIDENTS ARE EXTREMELY UNLIKELY TO OCCUR, AND THEIR IMPACT WOULD BE MINIMUM GIVEN THAT ELEMENTARY SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ARE TAKEN.

Thanks again for your willingness to help. Please don't feel you need to write extensive answers, just as long as you feel like writing is fine. If you would like I can forward on some details of your organization to other members of the course I am undertaking, for publicity. Also, if you would like to see a final copy of my teams project, to see how your questions are presented, I can do that as well.

WE SHOULD BE DELIGHTED TO SEE A COPY OF YOUR TEAM REPORT!

Berol ROBINSON, North-American correspondent of EFN