It's a pity that Richard Carleton did not push forward many unanswered questions on the nuclear industry when he presented a story on Chernobyl Last night...

For example, the cost of creating a new "sarcophagus" for the defunct reactor is around 1 billion US dollars, possibly 2 billions when completed, but this pales in comparison with the clean up of UK's aging nuclear power stations. The UK energy minister is prepared to foot a nuclear bill of around 56 billion pounds (around 120 US billion dollars) for this clean up. Many analysts thinks that the bill, now to be going to private enterprises, will be at least double that.

We also know that in places where depleted uranium has been used in warfare, incidence of certain forms of cancers and deformity do increase several folds, in a similar way to those of people and their subsequent offsprings at Chernobyl.

The damage done by radiation can be to various degrees whether we are just exposed, to what extend we've been exposed and if we have ingested radio-active material... and other situations

From the SMH

A quiet word to loud Americans
LOUD and brash, in gawdy garb and baseball caps, shuffling between tourist sites or preparing to negotiate a business deal, they bemoan the failings of the world outside the United States.

The reputation of the ugly American abroad is not just some cruel stereotype. Rather, says the United States Government, it is worryingly accurate.

Now the State Department in Washington has joined forces with US industry to plan an image makeover by issuing guides on how to behave for Americans travelling overseas.

Under a program starting next month, several big US companies will give employees going abroad a "world citizen's guide" featuring 16 etiquette tips on how they can help improve their country's battered international image.

read more at the SMH

-----------------

Gus thinks that Bonsai Dubya Bush, first offender ordinaire, would be the perfect candidate as a primary student to this school of anti-stereotyping. He'd be in need of ten times the amount of etiquette tips, not so much for his awkward tailoring and cowboy hats which we can live with, but for inside his tantrum-afflicted mind which is quite untidy... arrogant and full of pigeon-coop fertiliser.