================================================================== From: "Horatiu ... [content has been condensed but not altered] Subject: no more nukes... Date: Fri, 7 May 2004 11:36:31 +0300 Hello Dan, Thank you for not being indifferent. It is very important to find more people like you, daring to protect the future of our children, wherever we live. ... Your message is very clear and just, NO MORE NUKES. Here in Romania, they are just launching a second reactor out of four at our Nuclear Power Plant. But the one reactor working provides 10% of our national electrical capacity. This means that when this reactor opened, some 8 years ago, more that around 100 thermo-electrical power plants were put on stand by, which means less coal smoke, less CO, CO2 and others into the atmosphere, less green-house effect. In Romania, the closing of these conventional power plants together with the closing of all major heavy-industry complexes reduced the pollution by over 60 % than it was back in '89 when the communist's fell. Back then, I used to wake up in the morning, go to school and I couldn't breathe because of the SO and CO gas pollution that was looking like mist and had a strange taste in my mouth. I don't say that nuclear power is good, I say that it has it's benefits. Although I hate statistics (since we've already seen that the risks are always higher than what they say), here's one more: life expectancy in my country has risen with around 2-3 years because of this nuclear power plant and the reducing of conventional pollution. I can personally feel the difference on myself. However, the Chernobyl disaster is forever present. Whether it's a system malfunction, a human error or a faulty design, the risk of nuclear accidents still exists. The 1:1.000.000 chance to happen is a chance and as we've seen before, it happens. The energy problem is a fact that affects the whole world, not just my country or your country. But you see, in my view it's not enough to be against nuclear power, we should also help promoting new technologies as alternatives to nuclear energy. ... Elena's web site only tried to show the world just how Chernobyl looks like 18 years after the disaster, using some astonishing photos and few lines of personal thoughts which are both shocking and mean full. She had millions of viewers in just over a month, she had her free web-hosted page removed because of the excessive traffic, made the magazine's headlines in Germany and got people from Russia, Romania, Austria, UK, US, Canada & more talk about these things. Some even got involved to preserve this incredible story. Also check out http:// www.elenaschernobyl.com where an enthusiast just like you also mirrored Elena's site and set up a Forum. Best regards, Horatiu PS. Fell free to use my name, email and the contents of my emails to you. Use them for a just cause. ================================================================== From: "Horatiu ... [content has been condensed but not altered] Subject: Re: Elena's photo Date: Thu, 6 May 2004 11:09:08 +0300 Hello Dan, I live a long way from Chernobyl. I've never been any closer than where I live, so I can only guess the scale of that map. I estimated that the circle drew there has a radius of 35 km or about 27 miles. It represents the most dangerous and radioactive area that people should stay out of. However, as you can see there are fanatics that driven by youth impulses do crazy things. Maybe you don't agree with me on this, but as I told someone else before, I'm concerned on this issue as 3 out of 7 people I knew back then are now dead because of Chernobyl disaster and I am quite some distance away. For me, they are not just statistical figures, but the daughter of my father's work colleague (died at 26 two years ago), the father and the uncle of one of my friends (they were around 50), 3 of my classmates I had back then and many others. One can draw some interesting conclusions only by analysing Elena's photo documents. I mentioned above that the area inside that circle is where people should stay out. This doesn't happen because people are very poor and are trying to make a living by stealling and then selling things stolen from this area. You must have seen the picture showing a big parking lot where lots of army trucks and helicopters laid. Those were used while the "rescue" operations took place and then had to be left there because they became radioactive, as metal acts like a sponge and stores this energy (as opposed to the concrete which acts like a shield). If you step into a single army truck from that parking lot, you can get irradiated with 1.000 times the maximum level of radioactivity. This didn't stop looters to steal parts from those vehicles and then sell them onto the black market. My concerns are not with the looters, who knew what they were doing, but with the innocent people who bought those spare parts, unaware of their radioactive properties. This also happened in my town at a very small scale 10 years ago. My point is that we should all get more involved to limit this disaster as it is not over yet. Maybe you don't know, but in '86 there was a giant concrete shield built over Reactor 4. That concrete shield has deteriorated very much since then and there is a great danger for it to collapse. You can find attached the 2 photos, one taken in '86 just after the explosion and the other taken by Elena this year. You can see the hole in the reactor which was covered with that grey layer of concrete. If the concrete collapses, a huge radioactive dust cloud will raise in the atmosphere and together with some "fresh" radiation will travel again all over the world. This will be just like 100 Hiroshima's bombs exploding again at Chernobyl. ... Some political info: Chernobyl is situated in Belorussia, one of the republics that were created when the USSR collapsed in the '90s. It's government has communist orientation and they do things just like 20 years ago. They don't say a thing about this nuclear threat that still exists. The country is very poor, so are it's people. It's economy hasn't revived because of lack in economical education (other than the communist one) and because corruption has a very high level. Therefore, the country that is supposed to manage this very delicate situation doesn't have the competence, the skills, the will and the money to do things right. ... Best regards, Horatiu PS. Bad news for me: I just discovered that I am only 950 km (730 miles) away from Chernobyl. Elena lives only 100 km away from Chernobyl. Also just discovered that Chernobyl is in the Ukraine, while the Ghost City and the Nuclear Power Plant are in Belorussia. PPS. You can find attached a map with a scale. Note that the area around Chernobyl is completely deserted, that's why Elena said that she has found a village that was not on the map. Not even the roads are on the map. This is a true black hole. The thin black line is the border line between Ukraine and Belorussia. Compare this map with Elena's map. ================================================================== From: "Horatiu ... [content has been condensed but not altered] Subject: Elena's picture Date: Wed, 5 May 2004 23:24:00 +0300 Hello Dan, I came across kiddofspeed.com, I was overwhelmed by the pictures I've seen there. I live only 1.500 km away from Chernobyl, in the north of Romania, and I still remember the strange looking clear blue sky on those creepy days of late '86 spring. I tried to find more info on Elena and I found out that she has created a real "mediatic storm" with her mystic website without any information linked to her email. On your website I found a history of this event which I found usefull. Therefore, as you said that you failed to snach Elena's photo from a previous website version, the one that I think you mentioned can be found attached to this message. ... Best regards, Horatiu EOF