Journalists [and the corporate propaganda system that pays them] predominantly ignore such nuclear conundrums as safety, unprofitability, waste accumulation, unlawful decommissioning, routine radioactive releases, or the epidemics of disease clustered around nuclear sites. Those who are intimidated into ignorance and self-censorship merely by the science of it all have left themselves irresponsibly unprepared in proportion to the threat. Prudence would seem to dictate that the SEJ sponsor a conference, to debate -- at the very least -- the ideas of nuclear experts that have been synopsized herein. Nor is this so narrow an issue as it seems: The potential for domestic instability due to nuclear emergency has substantial foreign policy implications. (Not to mention the economic and political ramifications leading us to complete societal breakdown.)
Journalists would do well to revisit a portentous analysis offered by Nobel physicist Richard Feynman. "It appears that there are enormous differences of opinion as to the probability of failure with a loss" of equipment or human life, he wrote. "Estimates range from roughly one in 100 to one in 100,000. The higher figures come from working engineers and the very low figures from management. What are the causes and consequences of this lack of agreement? What is the cause of management's fantastic faith in machinery?"
Data guru Steve Kornacki is leaving MSNBC to stay with NBC News full-time, becoming the cable...
