WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 164
BERLIN, N.H.
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Running for president to draw attention to thorium BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – Bob Greene has no illusions about his chances of winning the 2012 Democratic primary for president. “The odds of my winning are extremely slim,” Green said in an interview Tuesday morning. But he has registered in the New Hampshire primary and is actively campaigning to draw attention to his ‘thousand year energy plan,’ centered on use of the element thorium to produce nuclear power. Greene, who holds a doctorate in physics and worked for several top software companies before retiring, said thorium is plentiful, cheaper, more manageable, and safer than uranium. “It should be a key component in energy policy debate and it’s not even there,” he said. While uranium has a half-life of 350,000 years, Green said 83 percent of the radioactive waste generated by thorium has a half-life of ten years or less. The remainder has a half-life of about 350 years. Greene said the United States has between 15 and 19 percent of the world’s supply of thorium. In the sixties, he said the United States built a thorium reactor cooled by molten salt. He said the government chose to focus on light water uranium reactors in large part because uranium produces plutonium as a byproduct, which in turn is used to make bombs. If the country focused on thorium reactors with the same zeal applied to the Apollo space project, Greene predicts the United States could be in full
Democratic candidate Bob Greene. (MELISSA GRIMA PHOTO)
thorium production in ten years at a cost of about $2 billion. Switching to thorium-based nuclear energy, he said would allow the country to replace all fossil fuel plants over the next 50 years and freeze global warming. He stressed he has no financial interest in thorium nuclear energy. Greene said solar and wind energy are nice but
Coos reps weigh in on Republican candidates BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN — With the First in the Nation NH presidential primary fast approaching, the Coos County Republican representatives have weighed in on their preferred candidates. The endorsements are as varied as the men who made them, and of the four Republican representatives who have publicly come out for one of the hopefuls, none are endorsing the same candidate. Coos boasts six Republican and five Democratic representatives in the County Delegation. The Republicans include, Duffy Daugherty and Larry Rappaport of Colebrook, Marc Tremblay of Berlin, Herb Richardson and Bill Remick of Lancaster, and John Tholl of Whitefield. John Huntsman’s campaign, on Tuesday, announced that Remick had signed on with their candidate. Rappaport said that his endorsement was no secret, as he has served
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as the chairman of the Ron Paul for President campaign in Coos. Rappaport said that although he does not agree with Paul on every issue, what he appreciates most is his willingness to put out a consistent message no matter who he’s addressing. “The thing that appeals to me most is that he always tells the truth,” Rappaport said. While Remick and Rappaport went with the long shots, others backed front-runners. Tholl joined other political heavyweights, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Executive Councilor Ray Burton, Dist. 1 Sen. John Gallus, and former Speaker of the House Harold Burns with an endorsement of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, Daugherty is putting his name behind Newt Gingrich. “I like his experience,” Daugherty said. “He’s a fighter and I think he’s going to have the best chance (to win) next November.”
they cannot provide enough energy to meet the country’s needs and the cost is expensive. He warned the Chinese government has announced it is interested in thorium energy and wants to own all the intellectual property rights to the process. “I actually see this as a national security issue,” Greene said. A resident of Mountain View, CA, Greene said he registered for the New Hampshire primary because the $1,000 filing fee was affordable and he has connections to the state. He grew up in Lowell, Mass, just across the New Hampshire border, and has spent considerable time in the Granite State. He has climbed all 48 peaks over 4,000 feet and has a sister who lives in Nashua and a brother with a camp in Pittsburg. He said he filed for the Democratic primary even though President Obama is running for re-election because he is a Democrat and the Republican side of the ticket is crowded with 30 candidates competing. In contrast, there are 14 candidates on the Democratic ballot. His future as a candidate after the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary depends on the level of support he receives. Regardless of what happens next month, Greene said he had to try to raise awareness of the benefit of thorium as a viable alternative to the country’s energy woes. “How could I tell my son I knew of something significant that would really change his life and then sat on the couch,” he said.
Fund set up to help fire victims BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – A fund has been set up to help the Berlin couple whose home was destroyed in a fire Christmas. Friends and family say Alan and Gina Alger had just purchased the house at 456 Glen Avenue and were working hard renovating and remodeling the older structure. Not only is the house a total loss, but the pair also lost all their possessions, including Christmas presents, in the fire. “They really lost everything. How horrible is that on Christmas Day,” said Louis Memolo, owner of Memolo General Contractor, where Alan Alger is employed. The couple was scheduled to be released from different hospitals yesterday where they were being treated for smoke inhalation. The pair had both initially been taken to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin. Later Alan Alger, who suffered severe smoke inhalation when he ran back into the building in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue his dog, was transported to Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington, VT. Alan’s mother, Lois Alger, said her see FIRE page 13
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A Berlin firefighter is silhouetted by fiery smoke as he climbs a ladder to extinguish a Christmas night fire at the Alger home on Glen Avenue. (RICHARD NICOLETTI PHOTO)
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