CHERNOBYL OR COMMUNICATIONS
by George Por


When the first rain tainted with radioactive stuff from
Chernobyl came down on the West Coast, it caught me in the
middle of University Avenue.

We were told it was harmless, but I also read in the papers that
thousands of folks were buying gas masks, and that health food
stores were making a killing on kelp and miso and wheatgrass
juice, and that Geiger counters were selling like hot cakes. The
Examiner newspaper quoted a retailer who reported that his
customers were all saying the same thing: "I just don't trust
the government, I have to find out for myself."

Like most of us, I ran to get under some roof. Later, while
drying my wet hair, I was pondering what could be learned from
this nuclear accident that has occurred in our global
neighborhood. Close enough to rain down on us. I still am. It's
more obvious to me that the single most important fact of life
in our global village is our mutual interdependence. "They or
us" will never work again, or we will Chernobyl ourselves into


cosmic oblivion: to Chernobyl or to communicate.

Collectively, I see that human beings have all the elements
necessary to answer the challenges of the global crises we now
face. However, those elements won't manifest themselves as
meaningful patterns and solutions unless we develop a planetary
nervous system with electronic freeways that provide
instantaneous global access to expertise relevant to a
particular aspect of the crisis. Electronic freeways consist of
not only satellite transceivers, fiber optics, and global
computer networks; all our telecommunications gizmos won't do
any good without human beings committed to skillfully using the
technology for sharing accounts on what on Earth works.

Looking at the news I receive, I find that we are starting to
communicate: from Chernobyls to communications. The nuclear
industry has realized that it MUST make better use of available
communications technologies and human expertise.

"DAY AFTER" STORIES
===================

I heard that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to call the
Swedish for advice the day following the blast, and that he
could not get through to the right person because it was
Saturday, and who works on Saturdays in Sweden?!

It seems that although we can't predict accidents in nuclear
power plants any better than earthquakes, the intelligent use of
telecommunications for managing a crisis might, at least,
minimize the damage.

At Three Mile Island (TMI), just before that nuclear accident,
operators registered more than 100 warning signals but were
puzzled about how to interpret and prioritize them. They had no
direct and immediate access to the experience of their
colleagues in other plants who had already encountered and
solved similar problems. As for Chernobyl, the poor
communications between the plant, the local and central
authorities, and other concerned countries, just aggravated the
situation.

After the TMI accident, the final report of the Lessons-Learned
Task Force of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and its
Draft Action Plan of 1980 listed more than 200 recommendations.
Having emphasized that "the nuclear industry has limited
resources, particularly in respect of technically qualified
manpower," they pointed out the importance of increasing the
speed and ease of access to rare technical expertise.

Since the adoption of the NRC Action Plan, dedicated phone lines
have been established between the plants, the designers and
manufacturers of their reactors, and the NRC. The reactor
suppliers' technical experts can be reached at any time through
electronic paging. Written communication among the plants got in
electronic gear: it's been carried by Notepad, a low-profile,
high-security computer conferencing system that has also been
used by Rotary International, NASA, and Bechtel.

On May 15th, following Chernobyl, the text of a speech by
Gorbachev was reprinted in the NY Times. Gorbachev called for
"an international regime of safe development of nuclear power
on the basis of close cooperation of all nations dealing with
nuclear power engineering. A system of prompt warnings and
supply of information in the event of accidents and faults at
nuclear power stations... should be established in the
framework of this regime."

And in a telephone call a few weeks later, an executive of one
of the computer network vendors tells me that the Soviet Union
is now participating in some international negotiations aimed at
establishing a CC-based early warning and nuclear safety
information exchange system.

I'm not the only one in the press to know about these
negotiations. Where are the writers about mass nuclear graves
when there is news of US-USSR cooperation to report on? C'mon
print colleagues who are reading this issue online, BE A HERO OF
*_GOOD NEWS_*, and TELL YOUR READERS.

TAKING CARE OF THE BODY
=======================

It seems to me, that INCREASING THE SPEED AND EASE OF ACCESS TO
EXPERTISE DEVELOPED IN THE PAST OR IN DISTANT LOCATIONS is not
only a technical concern of NRC, but in a different scale, IS
THE VERY CONDITION OF ENTERING THE NEXT PHASE OF OUR PLANETARY
AND OUR PERSONAL EVOLUTIONARY JOURNEY. It's because: one obvious
lesson of both TMI and Chernobyl is the importance of full and
immediate communications between the parties involved in a
crisis and those with relevant expertise. Of course, I'm not
speaking of nuclear accidents alone.

I have a personal story in which I have seen some of the drama
of the planetary body played out in my own body. After working
long hours on the computer keyboard for years, I've just
recently developed "carpal tunnel syndrome," a disease of the
wristbone, frequently due to inappropriate ergonomic setting and
posture. I recognized the symptoms described in a newspaper
article and wanted to know about how I can heal myself.

Not being able to use a hand is rather scary for a writer.
Seeking information, I sent a message to an online friend on my
home net, The Meta Network. I told her about my condition and
asked if she happens to know anything about the cure of "carpal
tunnel."

Next day, when I opened my electronic mail box, I saw a message
scrolling through my computer screen. Sitting in my office in
Berkeley, CA, I was reading advice sent to me by a chiropractor
in Richmond, VA, who had been alerted by my friend!

Jumping from my micro experience to the macro global experience,
this technology that you and I are using, the technology of
computer-assisted human networking, is perfectly suitable also
to disseminate knowledge resources and bring help necessary to
heal the wounds and inflammations in our planetary body: both
the natural and man-made disasters.

BUMBLE BEE NETWORKING
=====================

I leave you with a story. More *_GOOD STORIES_* from my mailbox.
This one comes from a network committed to revising health
care, one of many networks engaged in global sharing of
knowledge, expertise, and direct human experience.

"Old Doc: Have you ever considered the universal
implications of the bumble bee buzzing from flower to
flower?

"Medical Student: Cross-pollination sustains the
species. No bumble bees, no flowers; no flowers, no
bumble bees.

"Old Doc: Right. Like flowers in the field, clusters
of individual persons are maturing gloriously in
wisdom and grace. And like flowers, they are doomed
unless they exchange genetic information with their
fellows in the whole field, which for us is the
planet."

(Neighborhood Caretaker, published bi-weekly by Elizabeth U.
Dyson and Burton C. Dyson, 3038 Fall Creek Pkwy. N. Dr.,
Indianapolis IN 46205.)

-----

George Por is director of H i g h L i g h t s Electronic &
Desktop Publishing, division of Metasystems Design Group, Inc.,
telecom editor of Computer Currents, and co-founder of the
Electronic Networking Association. Address correspondence to:
H i g h L i g h t s , 3051 Adeline St., Suite E, Berkeley, CA
94703. Phone: (415) 548-8213. Via modem: The Source (BDB404),
Unison (George Por), The WELL (george), and The Meta Network
(George Por).