unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/06/89)
ACTIVISTS FILE SUIT TO STOP SHUTTLE LAUNCH
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September 29, 1989
By VINCENT DEL GIUDICE
WASHINGTON (UPI)--Anti-nuclear activists filed suit Thursday
to block the Oct. 12 launch of the space shuttle Atlantis and the
atomic-powered Galileo probe to Jupiter, charging the government
suppressed vital safety data.
The Foundation on Economic Trends, the Christic Institute and
the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice claim deadly
plutonium could be released in a launch explosion or if the
Galileo probe accidentally re-enters Earth's atmosphere after
launch.
Their suit is the first ever filed to stop a manned space
flight.
"The astronauts volunteered for this mission," said Jeremy
Rifkin, president of the foundation. "Those around the world who
may be the victims of radiation contamination have not
volunteered."
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, however,
contends exhaustive testing shows the $1.4 billion Galileo's twin
compact atomic power packs would easily withstand a Challenger-
class disaster and that even in a more severe accident, any
radiation release would be minimal.
The suit filed in U.S. District Court charges NASA, the Energy
Department and Bush administration withheld safety data compiled
by a government panel--in violation of the National
Environmental Policy Act.
"NASA's decision to launch was made at the same time that the
agency refused to make public a Safety Evaluation Review by an
interagency panel created by the National Security Council," the
activists said.
"The SER report differs from NASA estimates on the radiation
risk of Galileo by factors of 10 and 20," they said. "NASA did
not use SER risk figures in its own Environmental Impact
Statement."
In Cocoa Beach., Fla., the Galileo project manager, Richard
Spehalski, said at a space conference Wednesday, "I think the
government will be well prepared to respond to the concerns."
Rifkin said a hearing would probably be held early next week
once the judge assigned to the case, Oliver Gasch, reviewed the
activist's charges.
Because of the positions of Earth and Jupiter, and the power of
Galileo's solid-fuel booster, Galileo must be launched by Nov. 21
or the flight will be delayed for two years. And that would cost
NASA between $125 million and $150 million, officials said.
Atlantis, with Galileo nestled in its payload bay, is scheduled
for blastoff Oct. 12 at 1:29 p.m. EDT from seaside launch pad 39B
at the sprawling Kennedy Space Center in Florida with an
astronaut crew of three men and two women.
The robotic space probe, named after the Italian astronomer who
discovered Jupiter's four brightest moons, was designed to study
the solar system's largest planet in unprecedented detail.
The flight originally was scheduled for 1982 but it has been put
on hold repeatedly because of delays in shuttle development,
uncertainty about which booster to use and most recently by the
Jan. 28, 1986, destruction of the shuttle Challenger.
Galileo is equipped with the pair of radioisotope thermoelectric
generators, called RTGs, to provide electricity because Jupiter
is 484 million miles from the sun--too far to use solar panels.
Each RTG is loaded with about 24 pounds of radioactive plutonium
238 dioxide.
NASA has successfully used similar atomic generators on a number
of manned and unmanned missions, including five Apollo lunar
landings and the twin Voyager excursions to the outer solar
system.
"I think the government, as well as most of the nation, will
probably come to the conclusion that (the atomic generators) are
a very safe device," NASA's Spehalski said. "They aren't going to
hurt anybody. If there's an accident, even the most extreme would
show a very low probability of a release of plutonium. So we're
satisfied with them."
The anti-nuclear activists are nonetheless strong in their
conviction and have threatened to infiltrate the restricted
launch pad area during the countdown if they lose the legal
battle.
"After the Challenger explosion, Chernobyl and the Valdez
accident we have learned that technology can go terribly wrong,"
said Bruce Gagnon, of the Florida Coalition for Peace and
Justice, based in Orlando, Fla.
"With nearly 50 pounds of plutonium going up we are extremely
concerned about the danger a shuttle accident presents."
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