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C00002 00002	%Feb. 9 version that Panofsky "will probably sign".  He says the
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%Feb. 9 version that Panofsky "will probably sign".  He says the
%odds are even that he will sign the letter soliciting signatures.
%Diablo 1, constrution permit April 23, 1968, d2, dec 8, 1970
%San Onofre, Bert Wolfe 408 925-6900
%New Panofsky version. adds San Onofre and removes one "nuclear"
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\ctrline{\bf Nuclear Energy Statement by California Engineers and Scientists}

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	We, the undersigned California scientists and engineers,
believe that California has hesitated too long
about nuclear energy.  We must put the completed plants into {safe}
operation, promptly finish the plants under construction, and
build enough new plants to meet our growing needs and to replace
power plants that use oil and natural gas.

	The war between Iraq and Iran points up the danger to California's
welfare caused by our failure to take adequate action to ensure energy
supplies.  California is one of the most vulnerable states in case of
an oil cutoff emergency for many reasons.

	Here are the facts as we see them:

	\A. We are the most populous state in the union, so our energy
demands are large.

	\A. We have no coal, and we use more oil and gas than any other state
for the production of electricity.

	\A. California has the most cars of any state, {a very poor
public transportation system},
 and is uniquely
dependent on cars for transportation.  We use the most gasoline of
any state.  There is no short-range substitute for this, so it is important
to reserve oil for gasoline.

	\A. We also depend heavily on water power for electricity, and
the amount available has been sharply reduced in dry years.

	\A. Because of the opposition to all presently practical forms
of energy production by various pressure groups,
 California increasingly relies on imported energy
including electricity.  We import nuclear and water power from the
northwest, and we import coal produced power from Arizona and Utah.
While the State Administration proposes
further electricity imports, it has become increasingly risky
to rely on other states.
As energy shortages develop, they'll meet their own
needs first.

	\A. State energy rhetoric puts its main
hopes on such energy sources as solar, wind and biomass
from which the State Energy Commission itself expects little
production before the end of the century.
Geothermal and hydroelectric energy are extensively used in
California, but possibilities for expansion are essentially
exhausted.

	\A. It is our judgment that production of a given quantity
of electrical energy by nuclear plants is safer and on the average
 more economical
than producing it from coal and oil.  It presents fewer environmental
problems than almost any other source of energy.

	\A. It is seven years since the 1973 oil embargo and
four years since the anti-nuclear initiatives were
defeated by the California voters.  In spite of the urgency and in
spite of the vote, the State Government has prevented
new plants from being started and now opposes the operation of those
recently completed.  We are convinced that this opposition is
mistaken.

	\A. The only way to avoid serious shortages and dislocations
is to conserve where economic and to produce where needed.  We support
all reasonable conservation efforts -- improved building design,
gasoline conserving automobile practices, co-generation of electricity
with process heat, etc.  Yet such measures cannot in themselves solve
the problem.  New energy production is needed, and nuclear energy is
the most economical and the most benign environmentally.

	\A. We can no longer afford to allow delaying tactics.
To prevent serious electric energy shortages in this decade, existing
nuclear plants must not be shut down, nuclear plants under construction,
in particular the completed plant at Diablo Canyon and the partially
completed San Onofre plant,
must be put into operation without delay.  We estimate that
the utilities must plan
for substantial additional
generating capacity in California for the balance of the century.
A way must be found to license and finance the needed capacity.
%<< are six plants enough?  Taiwan, smaller than CA plans 20 by 2000>>

	Write for further information to Scientists and Engineers for
Secure Energy, 215 Market Street, Suite 919, San Francisco, CA 94105.

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