Criticism *

Mr. Bob Dixon. Public Affans and Information Officer from the Whiteshell Research Station, spoke to. a small group of students in the Duffy Amphi— tlteatre last Thursday. The White- shell station, located in Manitoba, is the head office of Atomic Energy of Canada,‘ Ltd, AECI.‘s research on high-level radiation

Nuclear

waste disposal for Canada.

In the introduction the audience “as told that this would be an information session only, and wouldn‘t with the contro— versies surrounding the nuclear issue. Mr. Dixon started his talk with a little “preaching”, as he called it, and that this

deal

However,

it was obvious was

andthctzpresentation to convince

students that nuclear‘power poses no real health hazards for the public.

The audience was told that the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident. in which a US. reactor had a partial meltdown releasing radia- tion into the surrounding com- munity, was a “non-accident as far as public health is concerned.”

One wonders how Mr. Dixon could be so positive about this assertion. The amount of radia- tion actually released at TMI can only be speculated, since the radiation detection metres on site went off scale. In addition, the

effects of radiation exposure are

cumulative. and often it takes 20 to 30 years for the cancers pro- duced to be detected. .

The speaker showed slides of a nuclear operator holding a fuel bundle before it goes into the reactor. He stated that the fuel “as relatively safe. He neglected to mention the millions of tons of lowlevel radioactive wastes that are polluting the air and water as a result of the production of that "relatively safe fuel bundle". When questioned about this, the speaker made reference to a study :n, the U.S. which showed mining uranium and fueling reactors was

much safer than leaving it in the'

g'ound, since during this cycle some of the radioactive materials were reduced. How could mining, milling, processing, transporting,

l'issioning, storing, and disposing: of this fuel cycle be safer than‘

leaving it in the ground? The audience was then assured that a CANDU reactor would

1,.\

- ._ «. .M\.4.~ w « x:

rw§,.‘-

‘

(A Waste storage and disposal. He _, i

.a .

never explode. When asked about the possibility of proliferation of nuclear weapons through the sale of CANDU’s to~India (who deto— nated a nuclear explosion in 1974) Argentina (who is presently con-

structing the facilities to build nuclear weapons), South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey, Mr. Dixon dismissed this possibility. He viewed the plutonium in the spent fuel as a very useful “by-product” which could be re-cycled and used as an energy source. Once again, the issue of proliferation was omitted from the presentation.

Mr. Dixon went on to dicuss’v

the various methods of high-level

a

'sh‘dwed charts 7 prodUCEd by v computer simulations that proved I

these wastes safely.

could be stored

The speaker also said that in his

opinion an increased exposure of

1% of background is safe. He neglected to tell the students that every exposure to radiation in- creases the potential of contract- ing cancer and that there is no safe level of radiation. After the talk, a man asked Mr. Dixon how he should dispose of the radio-

active material ir his smoke de- ‘

tector. Mr. Dixon told the man to throw it in the dump — that it contained no radiation of any significance. In fact, he said you could eat the Americum 241 in 100 smoke detectors and get less radiation exposure than is in a meal. The International Com- mission for radiological protec- tion has set a maximum permis- sible body burden of 0.03 micro- curies. A single smoke detector contains from between 25 and I70 times that permissible amount. According to Dixon, 100 x this amount would pose no health hazard. I 4

Mr. Dixon offered to come back and discuss some of thei questions raised but I would hope that the engineering department could find' someone to present a more objective view of the nuclear industry. We’ve heard from the industry, how about hearing from those who have a different point of view. h

By Roy Johnston/Terry Mitchell

‘1 ..wu.a .xETsw—y Fur. w ....

Having a few minutes free (a rarity), I stopped at the Telidon machine in the library. After pressing a .few buttons, '1 was re- warded, with a picture of some stars and a. message saying, “Under the-'geodesicdome. of the UPEI Planetarium is an entertain- ing as well as educational show, a re-creation of the sky and all it’s (sic.) wonders.” My interest sparked. I read further.

“The simulation of constella- tions, planets and meteors, com- plete with narration, is enjoyed by viewers of all ages.” This sounds pretty good, I thought. Howrcan I see it? This question plagued me until a new picture was drawn. “The five sectional globe, 50 feet in diameter, is 37 feet high & features a tnain star projector assisted by six slide projectors operated by remote control. Public shows offered throughout the summer months, For winter schedule contact: Planetarium 566-0410.”

Armed with this wealth of new information, I left the TelidOn and rushed to the nearest phone. I was greeted by an answering machine that told me to phone back later between H :00 am and 1:00 pm. The next day, I phoned. Ring Ring Ring no ’answer. Since I "an tmpus

International year of Tempo ,-

WATERLOO (CUP) — A tobacco advertisement in a number of campus newspapers, in the win- dows of every corner store and on bus shelters has come under fire from the Canadian Cancer Society.

The cancer society says that RJR MacDonald Compnay’s Tempo cigarettes are an attempt to induce young people to start smoking.

“They (MacDotald) says the ads"are geared ‘t‘uards, the 18-25 age group. In: mk at the ads. We say 13 and up,” said Mike McFarland. pth ic relations officer at the cancer society.

McFarland sa:d the bright, pastel-ads are aimed at non- smokers, and not smokers switch- ing brands;

“The: industry in trouble. More peorlt ..'.‘ guiding, so they have to get mo ' people to start.

-Fr,anrkly, I‘m surj‘ .scd they got

\ away with the' ads,” he said.

“An official "with J. Walter museum GEM -n -

Easier to board the space shuttle? ,

anyway, I walked over to the 37- foot high planetarium and found the outside door open. Encou- raged, I entered. The inside door was locked. The message on it said that “the group” had arrived early and “I’m” inside showing the film. Hmmm. Whatever hap- pened to remote control? ‘

Still interested after all this, I read the message on the outer

door which was open. “The UPEI ’

planetarium is open during the

winter months to groups of IS or.

more by appointment only. For, further information or to make an appointment call 566-0410.”

I wasn’t about to call that number again. Then I thought to myself, the note on the door has two interpretations. I am not a group of 15 or even more

Thompson, the agency which designed and distributed the Tempo ads, dismissed the claim.

“First of all, the facts are wrong. Nobody said this was a cigarette targeted at the 18-25 market. In fact, Marketing Maga- zine refers to it as a Yuppie ciga- rette. Well, there are no I8-year- old Yuppies‘,” said Jeff Goodman

vice-president of corporate re- '

Iations. “The cancer society. won’t .be .happy unless we go out of busi- ness,” Goodman said. Goodman said Tempo ads are unique for tobacco, but not for the market place.

“It’s a contemporary format. ' It’s in tone with the 80s. The ads show ordinary people that you see on the street, as opposed to the plastic-looking people in other I cigarette advertising, And by the way, none of. our models are unger'ZSyearsLof 39:. ’,’§ I

A studyifidoné spring indi-

, cath that.26“'pertgnt or college StudentS‘smoke,»Cercd to l8‘.‘6 _, A

percent in university.

obviously, I don’t need ah ap-

pointment during the winter. Maybe that’s not it, after what I’ve tried already. The other alternative is_‘that only groups of 15 or more can use' the plane- tarium during 'the winter. As I pointed out earlier, lam not a group of IS or more,-

How can I see-the Planetarium? Why isn’t at least one show 'per month scheduled? Whyi- can’t someone like me be tagged on to a group? Why do -‘we.have a plane- tarium if one cannot use it during the academic year? Why doesn’t the“ message'o'uf from“ say ‘ *r‘ln'di- viduals . interested, get..iost."~The answer to these and many more questions will be answered when someone answers tlte telephone. If anyone does. L

The full-colour ads were placed in six Ontario college papers, but Goodman said the distribution may later extend to university papers. The ads were distributed through two publishers’ repre- sentatives, Campus, Plus, which

. sponsored the spring/survey, and

Youthstream. Both companies allow papers the freedom not to run an ad if they decide against it.

Clark Davey, editor of the OBT at Seneca College, has not heard of the controversy surrounding the Tempo ads his paper runs, he said, “We would consider, and possibly would boycott (the ads) if approached by the Canadian Cancer Society.”

The Toronto Sun carried 3

Tempo advertisement in its Sept. 20

edition. “We will run it again if asked,” said national advertising coordinator Olga Arden. “We can’t decide to boycott an aid because ia,.spocial_ interest group

doesni‘tivlike it. It- (Tempo) is a 1 tobacco ad like any other tobacco .

ad. They'atways carry the (Health

and Welfare)?"warning... at th V

botto . ”~

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