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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Barker: N-Community Comfy w/Risks

People ask me how can nuclear experts be so comfortable that after all of the meltdowns, reactor damage and high radiation around the four nuclear reactors that widespread public health and safety isn’t automatically threatened. These are people who have worked around radiation all their lives. They know the real threat it poses, both short term and long term. They tend to as a group dismiss some long term threats that other health officials worry about. But they know how quickly high doses of radiation can kill and how it can spread through the food chain. I have long compared radiation to grizzly bears. There is a reason to fear grizzly bears, They will eat you. But if you camp in Yellowstone and keep your food closed up and sanitize your camp the chance you will be threatened by bears is low. Still many people don’t sleep well in a tent overnight in Yellowstone/Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman. More here. (AP file photo of Three Mile Island)

Question: Would you sleep better near a nuclear reactor or in grizzly bear country?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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