Speakers Call Nuclear Power Unsafe

Two volunteer members of Boston Clamshell, a group opposing construction of atomic power plants, attacked the nuclear power industry in a discussion with about 20 biology students yesterday.

Lee N. Chisholm '72 and Harvey Halpurn, a cancer researcher at Tufts Medical School, spoke at a section meeting of Biology 106, "Biology and Social Issues," on the medical effects of radiation, alternatives to atomic power, and public subsidies to the nuclear industry.

Halpurn questioned the industry's claim that there is an acceptable level of radiation to which people can be safely exposed.

Halpurn said a study of lethal mutations caused by radiation showed "the only safe threshold is at zero rems per year." A rem is a measure of radiation.

The law lets nuclear workers receive up to 50 rems per year, a limit where "all scientists agree that irreparable genetic damage is occurring," Halpurn said. "But nuclear workers comprise such a small portion of the gene pool that policy-makers consider this an acceptable price." Current federal regulations permit people living near nuclear plants to absorb .5 rems a year, Halpurn added.

Halpurn also questioned the nuclear industry's reliability in monitoring radiation output. He said when Wisconsin authorities checked for radioactivity around nuclear plants they found rates twice as high as those reported by industry scientists.

The best alternatives to nuclear power are to reduce energy consumption and develop tidal and solar power, he said.

Breeder Reactor Questioned

Chishold, an energy conservation researcher, said the fast-breeder reactor will not be an acceptable alternative to conventional reactors.

"It's greatest virtue is its biggest problem," he said, adding that the breeder makes more nuclear fuel than it can use, creating a stockpile of dangerous radioactive material.

Chishold said scientists opposing nuclear power are not profiting from their stand, but those supporting it frequently benefit from industry-related grants.

He named the Chase-Manhattan Bank, Morgan Guaranty, Citibank, Merrill-Lynch and Bankers' Trust as members of the Atomic Industrial Forum, a nuclear power lobby. These corporations own more than 70 per cent of the stock in utilities now building nuclear reactors, he said.

Federal Support Vital

Chishold said the nuclear industry could not have developed and cannot endure without federal upport.

The federal government has subsidized the atomic industry by paying $3.5 billion for overseas promotion of American nuclear technology and by operating uranium-enrichment facilities, he added.