Better information please.(Our Readers Speak Out)(Letter to the Editor)

Dear Editor:

I have never written a magazine relating to an article before in my 63 years, but the Letter to the Editor (September EUN) from Len Beyea prompted me to write. Something is happening to our society that is disruptive and dangerous. It is very hard to find accuracy, unbiased information, and most of all the truth of a matter.

The means of communication are filled with opinions, ideology, and attitudes on the issues of the day such as how energy will be provided in the future. The strong feeling of those who have developed ideological positions on nuclear power cloud judgment and leave us short of facts.

In a free country it is essential that people be able to get true and balanced information. In a free society it is axiomatic that people be allowed to express their opinions. However, for important topics, I need carefully written, balanced, and true information so that I can draw conclusions from facts as a voting member of society.

I would prefer to read information that does not try to swing me to one ideology or the other by omitting balance or otherwise distorting reality. Since I, like most Americans, am exposed to may sources of information, I did not care for the statement Mr. Beyea made concerning cost overruns for nuclear plants. I am aware of the expensive problems nuclear plant designers have experienced, including lawsuits that seek to delay construction or cancel it, of the accelerating pace of new regulation, and the impact that environmental concerns have had on construction and operation. I do not believe that people in the nuclear power industry are stupid and cannot forecast a reasonable budget. I rather believe they have to be quite brilliant to get anything finished at all.

Nuclear power proponents and opponents both engage in distortion for their own reasons. What I would like to see is someone writing about these topics with accuracy, facts, and balance of arguments, not bias and ideology.

People writing for public consumption need to be as accurate, balanced, and factual as possible, otherwise they are like so many crickets in the night chirping, "Here I am, here I am." The night never ends for those of us who want good information upon which to base our opinions and actions. If a debate appears on nuclear power, wind power, solar power, or whatever, I hope we see the facts.