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i iE aE, cide adie dl lL Laake oie aaasiiiie SERS EE iE Ey at Sag 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, May 6, 1986 Editorial Comments Courting Disaster The accident that struck the nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union, April 26, is a tragedy of untold proportions. Some experts say the initial loss of life could reach 2,000 with thousands more in the immediate area facing an uncertain future due to exposure to the - radiation cloud that escaped from the burning plant. There are predic- tions from some that food and water supplies over a wide area could be affected for years to come. It is the worst single disaster in the history of the peaceful use of nuclear energy. : Aside from the horrendous cost in terms of human lives and health, the accident has once again cast an ominous cloud over the nuclear industry everywhere in the world, just as it was seven years ago when Three Mile Island erupted. In Ontario, there are almost 20 nuclear reactors in use to generate electricity and people are asking the obvious question: can it hap- pen here? The experts in nuclear technology answer yes, an accident can happen here. But they are quick to add that even a major mishap at a CANDU-type reactor like the one at Pickering would not have the same catastrophic outcome as the accident in the Soviet Union. Unlike the CANDU which causes "heavy water" as a coolant, the Soviet reactor used graphite blocks which burn at high temperatures. And the Soviet reactor was designed without complete back-up systems which kick in during an emergency, or without the secondary containment area where radiation gas can be vented and trapped in the event of a melt-down. CANDU reactors have both back- up systems and containment areas. The experts say that for these and other reasons, the CANDU system is just about as fail-safe as humanly possible, and a major accident would be manageable, if one occurred. Still, the critics are not convinced. And when an accident of the magnitude of Chernobyl takes place, there are many average citizens who wonder about the safety of nuclear power as well. It is both unfortunate and unfair that the Canadian nuclear in- dustry may end up lumped together with all others, including Chernobyl. Sadly enough, what happened in the Soviet Union was probably predictable. Back in 1979, a group of western scientists toured a similar reactor in Leningrad, and many were shocked when they saw the way it was put together and the fact it did not have the crucial containment facility. This kind of reactor is in wide-spread use in the Soviet Union. Not only was Chernobyl! predictable, chances are a similar disaster may happen there again. Equally as shocking is the way the Soviets initially handled this disaster. They down-played it, and were it not for the fact that high levels of radiation were detected as far away as Sweden, the world probably would never have heard about it. And several days after the disaster the Soviets released a photo of the reactor which showed damage but no smoke, apparently an indication the fire was out. Western experts believe the photo had "been doctored by air-brushing the smoke out of the picture. Satellite photos taken about the same time suggested strongly that the reac- tor was indeed still burning. Obviously, the time has come for some strong international co- operation in nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Shoddy design and corner cutting are an invitation to disaster. (*chn Pe / N the t PORT PLOEY STAR CO LVTITIO f (a) ) AC | . Lert \ 3 J J. PETER HVIDSTEN Member of the Publisher Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ad and Ontario Community Newspaper Association vertising Manager Published every Tuesday by the 1B. MCCLELLAND Port Perry Star Co Ltd . Port Perry, Ontario Editor : Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department. Ottawa. and for cash CATHY ROBB payment of postage in cash News & Features O\AN COM FoF : oy Ve (Qo) 0% LU ©COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year. Elsewhere $45.00 per year Single Copy 35° 2 2, / PA Z 5 Z ¢ z Z a z TAG You'll man the picket line in an ambulace holding the picket sign n your mouth ! Chatterbox by Cathy Robb I promised I wouldn't write about my wedding plans anymore, and I'm not going to, but it's 'because of the wedding that I wound up talking to an old friend I haven't seen for nearly seven years. I was filling out wedding invitations on the weekend, furiously debating all the while whether or not to send a few to old friends I haven't seen- since high school. Janet is one of those friends and I think the last time I saw her was at her own wedding. : She was barely 18 when she got hitched, just graduated from Markham High where together we co-edited the school newspaper. At the time we were as close as two friends could get, working until the wee hours night after night putting the paper together, spending lunch hours yakking, and going out on weekends. I wasn't surprised when she asked me to be a bridesmaid and we vowed her marriage wouldn't interfere with our friendship. : Turned out it wasn't her marriage that slow- ed down our relationship -- it was me. After high school I zoomed off to college, and then to various newspaper jobs all over the province. At first I was just too busy to call her, too caught up with living in new places and working in new com- munities, and then I felt too guilty to call her. It's hard, when you haven't talked to somebody for a few years, to just call her up and pretend those years apart don't make a difference. So while I was penning invitations Sunday afternoon I was seriously wondering whether or not to send Janet one. I wanted her to come but I was feeling guilty because I wasn't going to ask her to be a bridesmaid. When I was in her wedding party I promised that she would be in mine if I ever got married. But since I hadn't seen her for so long, it would be ridiculous to ask her to be a bridesmaid. Wouldn't it? "Oh, send her an invitation," my mother said. "Don't be such a goof." "You mean you might not ask Janet," my sister said. 'Some friend you are." With their urging, I mustered enough courage to phone Janet's parents in order to find her ad- dress. That's how out of touch I was ---- I didn't even know where her and her husband Jeff were living. But when I called her parents' house I was in for a surprise. "Janet is right here now, her father said. "Do you want to speak to her?" I'swallowed. "Yes," I said. "Of course." And within a few seconds, Janet herself was on the line, her voice no different than it was seven years ago. I was afraid I wouldn't have much to say to her but my questions flew thick and fast. Not on- ly was she still happily married, she was also the proud mother of two sons, one 2%; years old, the other just seven weeks. We talked as if we had never grown apart and when I finally hung up the receiver half an hour later, I felt warm all over. The guilt that had burdened me for so long was instantaneously erased. I even wondered why I had ever felt guilty in the first place. Actually, I know why I feel guilty. I'm a terri- ble person when it comes to keeping up with old friends. It just seems like I've been in so many placec ~d each place has its own set of friends, its ow. , and its own memories. The trouble is, as I move on to the next place, or the next stage of my life, I meet new friends, set new goals and generally find myself too caught up in a new scheme of things to bother keeping up with old times. _ I've been in Port Perry three years and yet I feel like I've lived here all my life. Markham, where I grew up, is an alien city now. When I was in high school, it was a small town, not much big- ger than Port. Oakville, where I went to college, is much the same as Markham. And as for Gravenhurst, Hamilton, and Milton, where I've worked at assorted newspapers, well, it seems like I never spent any time there at all. And yet, each place does have its own set of memories and its own special friends. Janet is one of those friends, and if our phone conversation the other day means anything at all, it looks like we'll be renewing that old friendship. Maybe it's a good lesson for me. I think it is. And I hope, if I ever leave Port Perry, that I will keep the friends I have made here. I'll be more than just a little stupid if I don't. pera bi ST fi be a