We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com.

CLINTON ISN’T CLEAN

What to do with radioactive waste has long been the Achilles heel of nuclear energy. Plans for storing all waste in Nevada seemed good by all the states except Nevada. The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site has been canceled. Now the waste sits mainly at the plants in “temporary” storage. The steel canisters buried in thick concrete, inert gas and water are estimated to protect for a hundred years. With the radioactivity dangerous for 400,000 to a million years, you get a good idea of just how “clean” nuclear energy is, let alone subsidize it.

Despite Three Mile Island, Daiichi Power Plant in Japan and Chernobyl, the industry still pooh-poohs the danger. At Chernobyl, after the initial explosion, the 185 tons of melting nuclear waste was still melting down. When it reached the water, a thermonuclear explosion would have occurred. It was estimated it would have wiped out half of Europe and made Europe, Ukraine and parts of Russia uninhabitable for 500,000 years. This was prevented when three workers volunteered to dive in the radioactive water and open the values to drain the pool and prevent a second explosion, knowing it would mean death by radioactive poisoning. They succeeded in draining the pool but died of radiation sickness within a few weeks. Their bodies remained radioactive and were buried in lead coffins.

If a similar “incident,” as the nuclear industry calls them, happens in Clinton, do you think that Rep. Bill Mitchell, the Clinton School Board, DeWitt County Board or any of the 700 workers or any other advocates of keeping the plant open will step forward? William L. Steenblock Decatur

BENCH OR BUS? As the campaign season gets underway, the political advertisements are beginning to pop up everywhere. Two of the most noticeable are the Sara Jimenez benches and the Tony DelGiorno buses. The way I see it, this is a perfect metaphor for the nature of the two candidates.

A bench is stagnant, it never moves. It’s always there for someone to sit on, but not much else. Jimenez, like the bench, doesn’t do very much. With her, her constituents sit still. In her time as a representative, all she’s done is vote according to the governor’s wishes and filled her pockets with taxpayer money. She has no initiative to fix our current crisis. If you think the State of Illinois is run perfectly and doesn’t need to change, vote for Sara because you won’t get any change out of her.

A bus, however, is always moving and taking people where they need to be. That’s Tony DelGiorno. DelGiorno is a real visionary who cares about the people of Sangamon County. A Springfield native, he knows about the problems that have plagued this county during his lifetime, and he will affect change. DelGiorno is ready to move our state forward and be the independent voice for all the people of Sangamon County – not just the one in the Governor’s Mansion.

The State of Illinois is hurting. We need someone who can be the voice of change and the voice of the people. We need to deliver DelGiorno. Brett Chiaro Chatham