LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Leave plant safety up to experts
11/26/2012The safety of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant should not depend on whether opponents get their objections submitted on time, but it also should not be swayed by those opponents’ unsubstantiated opinions (“Tough enough to last?”, editorial, Nov. 5). Any suggestion that FirstEnergy Corp. did not take into consideration all factors about the cracks is baseless.
Sound engineering analysis considers the properties of materials such as concrete and all environmental conditions they can experience. The problem that arose has been addressed. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with its impressive depth of technical expertise, is competent to judge whether the concrete of the containment structure has adequate strength and safety margins.
Although public input should be welcome, including that of opponents and The Blade, we need to understand that specific technical information cannot be fully understood by everyone.
DAVID VanZANDT
Lakewood, Ohio
Editor’s note: The letter writer is a nuclear engineer with an aerospace company not involved with FirstEnergy.
Levy tariffs on Chinese goods
As President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio politically slug it out to avoid the fiscal cliff, why don’t they levy tariffs on products from the Chinese factories of U.S.-based companies?
That would create revenue and give American companies that make products domestically a chance to compete against their slave-labor rivals. The result would be new jobs. I resent that people in China make most of the products I use, while millions of Americans can’t find a decent job.
MATTHEW GOLKIEWICZ
Petersburg, Mich.
Libertarian signs need to be gone
Political signs still are promoting Libertarian Gary Johnson for president, weeks after the election.
Mr. Johnson and his supporters claimed to be for the people. But if he and his supporters can’t collect their signs, which now are garbage, I wouldn’t want him running the country.
I wish someone from his campaign would pick up those signs. They can start in Waterville and Monclova townships.
CHRISTOPHER TERRY
Waterville Township
Out-of-wedlock tale different today
Thomas Walton’s Nov. 19 op-ed column, “Extra innings: Batboy column a base for link to father,” told of a grown man who was conceived out of wedlock searching for his biological father.
The story would not happen now. In today’s United States, the baby boy would have been aborted.
DAVE STRATSO
Perrysburg Township