Bias
Posted by Tim Wheeler on April 19, 1999 at 15:59:22:In Reply to: Bias? posted by Joan Seeman on April 16, 1999 at 22:56:31:
Joan,
We all have biases, whether we are industry insiders or outsiders. If you don't believe that anti-WIPP activists such as Don Hancock and organizations such as the Southwest Research and Information Center have their own bias just as do DOE and Westinghouse, then you are nieve. Unless and until I present myself as an expert (which I do not) my background really is irrelevant, as is yours. I do, however, confess to be an adherent to the scientific process. By "scientific process" I mean the process by which scientific and technical work is reviewed and scrutinized in an open forum by eminently qualified peers. So, regarding this point I submit that:
a) The scientific process is valid,
b) The technical and scientific arguments for WIPP have been subjected to that process, and
c) The technical and scientific arguments against WIPP have been subjected to that process as well.Point a is important here, because one reason why DOE has such bad credibility and so many environmental issues throughout the DOE complex is because historically the DOE shielded itself from open processes, including both the scientific process and public review. But that is NOT the case with WIPP. With regard to points b and c, the ultimate WIPP proposal has successfully withstood rigorous and intense scientific scrutiny, but the technical arguments and concerns against WIPP have failed against such scrutiny.
Whenever the scientific process to which the WIPP has been subjected has nullified concerns raised against WIPP, anti-WIPP activists like Don Hancock abandon science and resort to legalistic maneuvers in lieu of science.
I submit that the National Academy of Sciences is the standard of excellence regarding scientific rigor, integrity, knowledge, and objectivity. It is good that our society holds the NAS as such rather than organizations such as the DOE, the Southwest Research and Information Center, and CCNS.
By the way, since you asked, I am an engineer with 19 years of experience in the area of Nuclear Power safety and risk analysis and NEPA compliance. Most of my work has been for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and for the DOE. I have worked on some of DOE's most extensive environmental problems (in my opinion Hanford). I have never worked on the WIPP program, so I'll let you decided if my professional career has tainted me with "bias". I am also a resident of New Mexico who has a father, a mother, a bother, and a niece living in Santa Fe, and I have two very good friends living in Roswell.
Tim Wheeler
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