Subject: Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, Father of Health Physics, passes away at 91: STOP CASSINI #135
Date: June 14th, 1999
Time Frame: There are 10 days left to demand that NASA smash Cassini into Venus.
Today's subjects:
The editor of this newsletter spoke to Dr. Morgan on several occasions in 1997 specifically in regards to Cassini and the horrendous dangers it poses. I was a "novice" at the time (I had thought nuclear launches had been banned already, until January 1997 when Karl Grossman first informed me of the problem). At the time of my conversations with Dr. Morgan, this STOP CASSINI newsletter did not yet exist, and I had probably not written more than a few public statements against Cassini.
It was those conversations back in 1997 with the eminent Dr. Morgan, along with conversations with Dr. John W. Gofman, Dr. Ernest Sternglass, Dr. Jay Gould, Dr. Michio Kaku and others, that convinced me of the correctness of our scientific and utterly credible opposition to NASA's terrible policy.
My descriptions of my conversations with Dr. Morgan, written at the time, are available in documents I have submitted to NASA (which they were obliged to publish in various supplemental EISs) and which are available at our web site, for example, here:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/dsei9704.htm
We are deeply saddened by his loss, and we offer our condolences to his family. We also regret the impact this loss will have on our movement against Cassini and more broadly, against nuclear launches in general. Dr. Karl Z. Morgan was truly the father of this movement, first opposing NASA's SNAP nuclear launches of the 1960's (when even a faulty containment system did not exist).
It is utterly amazing that the New York Times obituary shown below does not indicate the views he held in strong opposition to many, many nuclear policies of the United States, for approximately the last half of his life. The article shown below truly says more about the New York Times than about the great Dr. Morgan:
[NOTE (written June 26th, 1999): It would indeed have been utterly amazing, but it was not entirely true. Other copies of the New York Times News Service contain at least 3 additional paragraphs which detail Dr. Morgan's activities on behalf of anti-nuclear activists, testifying in court and making numerous pubic statements. -- rdh)
DR. KARL Z. MORGAN
Story-Date: 01:25 a.m. PST Monday , June 14, 1999
DR. KARL Z. MORGAN
Health physics pioneer, radiation exposure guru
New York Times Service
Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, a founder of the field of health physics, the science of human health and radiation exposure, has died in Oak Ridge, Tenn., after years as a leading official at the national laboratory there. He was 91.
Morgan was a member of the metallurgical laboratory staff at the University of Chicago in 1943 when Enrico Fermi and other physicists in the Manhattan Project were developing the world's first atomic bomb there.
After joining the project, Morgan was sent to a then-secret location in Tennessee where uranium was processed for the bombs that were dropped two years later on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in the closing days of World War II.
After the war he remained for 29 years at the plant, which became the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and was director of health physics at the plant until his retirement.
Morgan founded the Health Physics Society and was its first president, from 1955 to 1957. He also founded the Journal of the Health Physics Society and was its first editor, serving from 1958 to 1977.
In an article in the June issue of the journal, Morgan was described as "one of a group of six persons who developed and established the new science known as health physics, which today employs thousands of persons in countries throughout the world."
At midcentury, Morgan was a proponent of the near-Messianic view of nuclear science that then prevailed.
"We believe that the Nuclear Age is here to stay and that its future rests in large measure on the successful control of radiation exposure," he wrote in an editorial in the first issue of Health Physics.
"We must understand the full and ultimate consequences of this exposure and limit it at a level where we, and those that come after us, can reap the maximum benefits of this new age," he wrote.
Morgan is survived by his wife, Helen Lee McCoy Morgan, also of Oak Ridge; two sons, Karl Jr., a retired mechanical engineer from the Oak Ridge plant, and Dr. Eric Lee Morgan of Cookeville, Tenn.; two daughters, Joan Ellen Morgan of Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., and Diana Morgan Matthews of Cookeville; and a sister, Lois Morgan Johnson of West End, N.C.
Last Friday and Saturday (June 11th, 12th, 1999) a number of protests against Cassini were held all around the world. Two of the most prominent anti-Cassini spokespersons -- Dr. Michio Kaku and Karl Grossman -- made presentations at the New York City protests, with about 25 people in attendance. A smaller group, about 8 people, attempted to present a statement to NASA in Washington, DC. Other protests we've heard about occurred in England and in Bangladesh, the one there apparently received good press in the local English-language papers there. Florida Today "diligently" ran a story on the Cape Canaveral protest, indicating about 50 activists had gathered there. The report closed by giving NASA's utterly absurd "120 deaths" figure. The Florida Today article is available at the following URL:
http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/1999b/061399d.htm
Unlike two years ago, there were no counter-protests (in support of Cassini) that we have heard about.
Dear Mr. Nyquist,
I am a reader of both your column at Worldnetdaily and of Mr. Hoffman's Stop Cassini Newsletter. I have yet to see you answer Mr. Hoffman's challenges; conspicuously absent is any good article at Worldnetdaily where you could rationally and scientifically answer his rebuttals. Just how would our Nuclear Power plants be "shut down" by an EMP? Or to ask the question in another way, is Mr. Hoffman correct when he says that an EMP over America would cause Nuclear Power Plants to "melt down"? If this is not true, why don't you explain to Mr. Hoffman why this is not true... from a scientific perspective. In fact there are ten points Mr. Hoffman has challenged you on. I have yet to see you attempt to scientifically address even ONE of these ten points. I do not advocate "no defense" but I think "planning for a nuclear war" is BEGGING for GENOCIDE! Also please explain why you put so much faith and trust in the statements of Russian Generals. With your "close contacts" with these Communist generals I found it amusingly absurd that you would say Mr. Hoffman's slogan was "better Red than Dead." I do not know of ANY close correspondences between Mr. Hoffman and Russian Generals. I think Mr. Hoffman would want to spare both Americans and Russians the horrors of nuclear war. That doesn't seem to put him on either side of the conflict. Please demonstrate your strong abilities to defend your positions against Mr. Hoffman's TEN challenges in a good article at Worldnetdaily.
Sincerely,
A Reader
Alas, we have already published ALL correspondence we have received from Mr. Nyquist. He has as yet offered neither apologies nor corrections.
From: Maggie Mandzuk [SMTP:maggie.mandzuk@sympatico.ca]
Sent: June 8, 1999 8:02 PM
To: Daniel Goldin
Cc: Bill Clinton; Al Gore
Subject: REGARDING CASSINI
To Daniel Goldin,
I am writing to notify you of my disagreement with the upcoming Cassini Earth fly-by, scheduled for August 18th [Editor's note: 17th?] this summer. I have read on NASA's website that there is little danger of toxic radioactive harm to life on Earth in the event of an unexpected incident, such as an explosive reentry into our atmosphere or even a crash landing.
I have also studied the Emergency Resolution presented to the United Nations General Assembly on February 24th, 1999, and the petition tabled to the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled on May 25, 1999 here in my adopted country of Canada.
Having only been notified of this event one week ago, I can say I am astounded and vehemently opposed to such a treacherously dangerous experiment, one that is so well hidden from 'the people' that even avid readers of worldwide current events have not heard news about it and its potential for disaster. This absence of full disclosure is as infuriating to me as the insane risk that we have been put in, *without being consulted*. A cure for all human diseases would not be worth such a risk. "One in a million" is one too much.
I am simply imploring you to reconsider and redirect the Cassini Earth fly-by, and cancel all future plutonium-fueled missions. You are in full awareness of the scientific facts, so I don't need to reiterate them here. My only purpose in writing to you (along with the above copies to the White House) is to plead for your putting your attention on the state of the world as it stands today, and the need for a sane braking of humankind's race for more and yet more of the gifts that technology and science have brought to us.
Please stop for one long moment and look at where we are headed. I am a middle- of -her- life woman who has travelled, raised children, survived traumatic losses, and created beauty out of the ashes and memories of my past. I don't want to die because we've gone too far.
Even if Cassini were to be fine, the fact that NASA is even trying to carry off such an irresponsible mission is an absolute insult and denial of any and all self-awareness that we have developed as living beings on this generous & beautiful planet.
You must be a role model for those you present yourself to in your daily life. There are people all around the world watching Cassini and scratching their heads in wonder at the childish savages who are putting the blue and green pearl (as seen from space) in dire jeopardy. What you model will be reflected back to you.
Please take one long moment and remember my words.
And please, then send me your answer.
I close with Chief Senaca's quote, "I would rather offend with the truth, than please with adulation".
Maggie Mandzuk
4400 West Hill Avenue 219
Montreal QC H4B 2Z5
(514) 488-2608
maggie.mandzuk@sympatico.ca
Of course, comparisons to the ridiculous border on the sublime, but I would like to state that in my opinion, if a successful Cassini mission had a 100% chance of finding a cure for "all human diseases" it would in fact be well worth risking the danger it now threatens us with. However the reality is that the scientific gain from a completely successful mission will not cure one single disease, and even if it would, the science goals could have been achieved with solar options with a maximum of just two separate missions. Cassini CAN reenter Earth's atmosphere. NASA's containment system for the RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators, the nuclear power sources) CAN fail. Even NASA's own documents (for example, the 1995 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Cassini Mission, page 4-51) CLEARLY INDICATE that the containment system is of limited value. It is in fact, barely even tested, and is, in fact, UNLIKELY to contain the plutonium 238 dioxide very well in the event of an Earth reentry. Furthermore, the RHUs (Radioactive Heater Units) on board, each with 2.7 grams of plutonium 238 dioxide each, are ABSOLUTELY going to release their contents in the event of an Earth Reentry. There are about 130 RHUs on board. (Roughly 85% of the plutonium on board Cassini is the highly radioactive, awesomely carcinogenic Pu 238 with a half-life of 87.75 years. The rest is Pu 239 with a half-life of about 24,131 years, and small quantities of other isotopes. The half-lives given are those used by NASA; slight variations in their value occur in other scientific literature.) -- rdh
At 10:22 AM 6/14/99 -0800, David Kaftal wrote:
June 14, 1999
Russell D. Hoffman
Re: JPL told me "Risk from Cassini NOT CREDIBLE"
Dear Mr. Hoffman,
I’ve been aware of the Cassini mission and its plutonium since the
summer of ‘97, and [am] strongly opposed to it. Also pretty frustrated by
the way the story’s been ignored (or distorted) by the media. It’s
nothing new, of course; I’ve been an avid anti-nuclear activist since
the late 70s, and it’s a situation that I’ve seen time and again.
I just today ran bang up against their p.r. machine, and am writing to
tell you about it.
There’s a JPL/NASA number you give on your website, 818/354-5011. I
called it to try to get some information from them, and learned it was
their media relations number. I told them I was a member of the public
and wanted information, so they referred me to 818/354-6478, and I spoke
with a woman there. I’m afraid I didn’t write down her name. It may
have been [.....], but I’m not certain.
Anyway, I told this woman that my wife is the director of a pre-school,
and as such needs to conduct earthquake drills and fire drills and that
sort of thing with the children. I told her that my wife didn’t have
the slightest idea what to do to protect the children if there were an
inadvertent re-entry of Cassini into the atmosphere.
This woman told me that according to internal studies, which are
supported by external studies, if Cassini and its 72+ lbs. of plutonium
fell into the atmosphere IT WOULD BE PERFECTLY SAFE FOR THE PUBLIC, and
it would not be necessary for schoolteachers to do anything, not even
get the children inside. She stated that there is absolutely no one who
is the least bit credible who believes that Cassini poses any risk
whatsoever to the public. PERIOD. End of message.
I told her that I’ve been following this sort of story long enough to
know that governmental agencies routinely lie to the public about risks
to it, and thanked her for her time.
But I was really mad. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what JPL is
telling the public on June 14th, 1999, about Cassini.
Sincerely yours,
Hi!
THANKS for sending me this. Absolutely no one credible? THAT's incredible that they would say such a thing, but like you said, any anti-nuclear activist has seen that before. I have an interesting series of letters from this morning from a guy trying to tell me that NO ONE died from weapons testing, either.
Dr. Karl Z. Morgan [now deceased; see today's leadoff news article], Dr. John W. Gofman, Dr. Ernest Sternglass, Dr. Michio Kaku, Dr. Horst Poehler -- and many others who have spoken out against NASA's plutonium policies -- sure, none are credible in a topsy-turvy world!
I'm frustrated. I know you are too. The United States Government has learned to lie about radiation dangers so well, that it can only be described as "institutionalized lying".
(Regarding JPL's statement that there is no need to run inside or anything should Cassini reenter Earth's atmosphere and release some or all of its plutonium, they have a point! Namely, most of the release would probably occur so high in the atmosphere that it would spread so thin by the time it gets to Earth, that indeed, there would be little that could be done to protect oneself, and one would just have to accept "the luck of the draw" to protect you and your loved ones. I like to point out that at that point in conversations like this, that the 6 billion other sets of human lungs filtering the Pu puke out of the air will offer some protection for your own lungs. That's okay with NASA, I guess. (Animal lungs too would filter the plutonium particles out of the environment.) But it's NOT okay with me! It's an atrocity and NASA has committed a grave crime against humanity. Even if Cassini succeeds, sooner or later there will be failure, and people will die.)
Thanks again for writing,
Russell Hoffman
At 09:20 PM 6/8/99 -0700, "Webmistress"
From: "Webmistress"
Dear Mr. Hoffman:
I found out about your site from
http://www.realastrology.com/
(Rob Brezsny's site). There is an article there at
http://www.realastrology.com/oracle/alli-jun.html
which looks at this crisis
from an astrological point of view - factoring in the Grand Fixed Cross (a
very rare planetary alignment) and solar eclipse which both occur on August
11th.
After reading the above-mentioned article and having had a look at your
site, I plan on placing an article regarding Cassini on my website,
Celestial Tidings Astrology,
http://www.astrology2go.com/. I will provide a
link to the Stop Cassini Home Page in my article.
I don't get a tremendous amount of traffic (I average about 150 hits per
day) but I hope it will help spread the word.
Sincerely,
Barbara Edwards
Hi!
Thank you for your letter and for letting me know about these links. I will try to do a related links issue soon to present the many people such as yourself who are linking to my web site, so that those people can link to each other as well.
I personally, do not have an interest in astrology. But nor do I distrust the motives of those who profess some level of "professional" or "scientific" interest. Thus, I welcome your support and believe that the mathematical thinking that many astrologers have to have to simply follow the charts, can be an aid to understanding many problems, such as low level radiation dangers, and unlikely-but-possible disasters such as Cassini. Planets align only every so often, but they do, and it takes great mathematical understanding to predict it and to accept the reality of a very mathematical and methodical universe. What that has to do with Cassini, I don't know, but as I said, I welcome your support.
We should never have flown the Cassini mission with the RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators). The newer versions are called RPSs (Radioactive Power Sources, if I remember the alphabet soup correctly) but are substantially similar in their (faulty!) design). NASA could easily have eliminated the risk by changing to solar options (perhaps on two missions, but even so, what's the big deal?). Why didn't they? That's the military connection! They use RTGs for military missions -- truly a wasted risk -- there is not even any science gain to be had!
Compassion is so vital to understand what is wrong with Cassini, and I am glad to find that we have common goals for the good of all living things.
Thank you again for your help!
Sincerely,
Russell D. Hoffman
At 08:25 AM 6/9/99 -0400, Jonathan Mark wrote:
russell, why promote smashing cassini into venus rather than michio's
suggestion for destroying cassini by heading it toward the sun? we may be
going to venus in the future and that radioactivity would not be too
conducive for a visit for a long long time.
Hi Jonathan!
Thank you for your email (shown below). It's good to hear from you again.
My understanding is that Cassini cannot be aimed towards the sun without having it in an elliptical orbit that would actually go out past our own (very circular) orbit over and over, where it might be subject to various chaotic forces (especially if it becomes disabled at some point) which could cause it to cross our path some time in the future.
If you have a quote I could use from Dr. Kaku which indicates that useful work could be done without threatening Earth OR Venus, do please forward it to me, because I hate to see ~four billion dollars wasted.
However, note that if Cassini were smashed into Venus, it would create a relatively small "dead zone" for a few thousand years (for the Pu 238, much longer of course for the Pu 239), but with no atmosphere to spread the plutonium around [CORRECTION: Venus has a thick atmosphere -- rdh], it would remain in a limited area which could be well marked or at least well indicated on maps of the (rather inhospitable) planet. So smashing it into Venus, while not a very good plan, seems better to me than any alternative.
Thanks again for participating in the dialog.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
At 10:08 PM 6/9/99 -0400, Jonathan Mark wrote:
thanks for your thoughtful reply.
here's the dialog on this at noflyby
"I suggest we ask the President to send Cassini into the sun, after it has performed useful scientific work by circling around Venus. That way no one gets hurt and we still do some science. The sun can easily absorb the plutonium from Cassini, although the sun itself has very little plutonium."
Dr. Kaku is one of the world's leading authorities on Einstein's Unified Field Theory and is the co-founder of string field theory.
And from Dr. William Ross McCluney, also member of the NoFlyby Site Advisory Board, Optical physicist and solar scientist, Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Miami, Principal Research Scientist, Florida Solar Energy Center, and former employee at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center:
"They could take pictures and do other science around Venus when the probe goes by there. It won't be optimized for Venus, but I'm sure they could learn a lot about its magnetic fields, get some wonderful images, including those in false-color (for scientific interest), and learn some things about the particle fields in the vicinity of Venus.
"I'm not very familiar with either the positions of the planets for the next few years, or the feasibility of this proposal, but perhaps they could swing by some other planet."
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, I think Dr. Kaku was referring to what was possible at an earlier stage of the flight. Do you have a date for that quote? Because of the speed at which Cassini is approaching Venus, I don't think there is any way it can "circle" Venus as Dr. Kaku describes in the quote. It can only do a flyby of that planet. Certainly, I would hope they already plan to gather as much science return as possible during the Venus flyby, as Dr. McCluney suggests should be done (if only to test the instruments for later use around Earth, Jupiter and Saturn!). I think they should get a real close-up of Venus -- all the way to impact!
I think if you ask Dr. Kaku what is possible now, he will not be able to offer a solution which does not continue to put Earth at some unnecessary level of risk, because of the kinetic energy Cassini now has. You can't just push it into the sun. It loops and loops and loops, over time.
In any event, if he does have such an idea, it would undoubtedly be vital that it be implemented immediately, as it would surely involve adjusting the trajectory of Cassini BEFORE the Venus flyby! So I hope you will ask him what he thinks should be done today, if not smash Cassini into Venus!
Thank you again,
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
To stop NASA's dangerous upcoming August 17th (note new date!), 1999 flyby of Earth by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, with its deadly cargo of 72.3 pounds of plutonium 238 dioxide, arrogantly launched in 1997 amidst strong protests, please start by contacting NASA/JPL immediately and tell them you oppose Cassini:
Cassini Public Information
NASA states that they do not have the resources anymore to answer most emails they receive. Liars! They have $13 billion dollars to play with. They can answer the public's questions!
Here's NASA's "comments" email address:
Daniel Goldin is the head of NASA. Here's his email address:
Here's the NASA URL to find additional addresses to submit written questions to:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-002-HQ.html
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT NASA IS DOING TO YOUR HEALTH.
Be sure to "cc" the president and VP and your senators and congresspeople, too.
president@whitehouse.gov
Always include your full name and postal address in all correspondence to any Government official of any country.
After you have acquainted yourself with what NASA is doing, please:
READ OUR RESOLUTION AGAINST CASSINI!
SIGN OUR PETITION!
CANCEL CASSINI by JUNE 24th, 1999!
Thanks for reading! Welcome new subscribers!
Home page of our STOP CASSINI movement:
This newsletter is free and is not distributed for profit.
Published by Russell D. Hoffman electronically.
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 10:22:02 -0800
From: David Kaftal
To: "Russell D. Hoffman"
CC: first.lady@whitehouse.gov
Subject: JPL told me "Risk from Cassini NOT CREDIBLE"
PO Box 81
Bayside, CA 95524
707/444-2896
Stop Cassini Website
David Kaftal
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM DAVID KAFTAL -----
----- MY RESPONSE -----
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Astrology-related links to the STOP CASSINI web site:
----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM BARBARA EDWARDS -----
To:
Subject: SUBSCRIBE STOP CASSINI NEWSLETTER
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 21:20:46 -0700
Celestial Tidings Astrology
http://www.astrology2go.com/
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM BARBARA EDWARDS -----
----- MY RESPONSE -----
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Is there a safe alternative to smashing Cassini into Venus?
----- INCOMING EMAIL TO STOP CASSINI NEWSLETTER WORLD HEADQUARTERS FROM JONATHAN MARK HABER: -----
At 09:44 AM 6/8/99 -0700, you wrote:
To: Subscribers, Press, Government Officials
Subject: Cassini protest schedule? STOP CASSINI #133
Date: June 7th, 1999
Time Frame: There are 17 days left to demand that NASA smash Cassini into Venus.
jonathan
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM JONATHAN MARK (HABER) -----
----- MY RESPONSE -----
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----- 2ND INCOMING EMAIL FROM JONATHAN -----
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 22:08:29 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199906100208.WAA19426@equinox.shaysnet.com>
To: "Russell D. Hoffman"
From: Jonathan Mark
Subject: Re: What to do with Cassini
X-UIDL: b4fb059482161c6c056613f47e982e39
http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/ref/alt.htm
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What you can do today to stop the Cassini flyby of Earth:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena CA 91109
(818) 354-5011
comments@www.hq.nasa.gov
daniel.goldin@hq.nasa.gov
or
dgoldin@mail.hq.nasa.gov
vice.president@whitehouse.gov
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/petition/reso1999.htm
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/petition/cass1999.htm
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First placed online June 15th, 1999.
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