MURPHY’S LAW, the Nuclear Musical

We’ve had a small release of radioactivity,

A small escape of contaminated steam,

But it’s a common occurrence, no need for concern

Because there’s no danger to the public.

We found a tiny leak in a radioactive water pipe

And gallons of water are spilling on the ground

But we will have it repaired within the next week or two

And there is no danger to the public.

We’ve got everything under control,

There’s absolutely nothing to fear.

It’s just another small, inconsequential event

We went through a thousand of ‘em just last year…

We found a hairline crack in the new containment tower

And inspection shows it’s getting bigger every day

But after close observation we now have determined

That there’s no danger to the public.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Words & music by Eva Marmorstein

Waste not, want not, Waste a lot they’ll want a lot,

Want a lot they’ll have to buy things,

Have to try things to make them happy

Let’s make happy coincide with dressin’ snappy

Coincide with this year’s fashions

This year’s passions for being with it,

When they see on their TVs our picture of security,

a house, two cars or maybe three

They’ll think that they want that and more

More and more and

Pretty soon they’re at the store and

What to do? They got no money

And that ain’t funny if you want to be happy

Worried? Just forget it

If you’re rich, we’ll give you credit

Then you’re free to buy and buy more

Try and try more to make you happy

Be sure we’ve got a lot of

Brand new names for last year’s products

Change the box a knob or nada

Consumers are easy to fool!

Fool and fool ‘em

Don’t forget the business rule, it’s

Charge ‘em what the market bears,

The rules aren’t fair, but we don’t make ‘em…

Go for bigger markets

This year toddlers are our targets,

TV ads can plant the seed,

We’ll be there to fill their need…

They can’t talk but they can point,

Tell their parents what they want

Parents want to please their kin,

That’s where we’re gonna come in!

I wanted to sleep with my baby,

But I was worried about the sheets.

‘Cause when you work with uranium,

You got to be discreet.

I wanted to mess with my mama,

But I was worried about the genes.

‘Cause when you work with plutonium,

You don’t know what that means.

Radioactivity – it’s really got a hold of me.

Radioactivity – it’s gonna be the death of me.

‘Cause when you work at the pow’r plant

You come home to bad dreams.

When I go to the building where the hot stuff is at

If I don’t want to go there, they call me a scaredy-cat.

So I got to go in and prove that I’m a man

But I’d like to know what it would show if I had me a body scan.

I wanted to sleep with my baby,

But I was worried about the sheets.

‘Cause when you work at the pow’r plant

You got to be discreet.

What do we do with the waste?

From the power plants we’re creating

What do we do with the waste?

From the bombs we’re detonating

What do we do with the waste?

For an answer all the people are waiting…

Stick it in a salt mine, drop it in the sea,

But keep it far away from me.

Ah ah ah ah, what we don’t know cannot hurt us,

Ah ah ah ah, as long as Congress don’t desert us,

Ah ah ah ah, we’ll let Gallup polls alert us…

Cover it in concrete, space might be the key

As long as it’s away from me.

What do we do with the waste?

Given time we’ll find the answer

What do we do with the waste?

Atomic science will advance or…

What do we do with the waste?

Or we’ll all be dead of cancer!

Cart it to the Arctic – how about the Baltic Sea?

But keep it far away from me.

Ay ay ay ay, what they don’t know cannot hurt them,

Ay ay ay ay, with the oil crunch we’ll divert them!

Ay ay ay ay, the real issues we can skirt them…

I don’t see what the fuss is, why can’t they just trust us?

I’ll make sure it’s away from me!

I was briefed on the procedures for a problem at the plant,

The things I should and shouldn’t do, the things I really can’t,

Though the emphasis was always on assessment of the facts

I had insufficient expertise to justify my acts

In an excursion – an unanticipated incident,

Excursion – I wonder where the power went,

Excursion – I hope it’s nothing more!

The divergent oscillation of the water in the core

Left the core without the coolant, so it crumbled to the floor.

The afterheat’s a hazard, ten percent of full tilt thrust,

I’d ask somebody what to do, but I don’t know who to trust…

It’s a LOCA – a Loss of Coolant Accident

A LOCA – it’s too late for the cooling vent,

A LOCA – there goes the core!

A malfunction in the steam valve caused an automatic scram,

The redundant safety systems failed, an ECCS sham.

The NRC and DOE officials were enraged

When the pressure in containment went completely off the gauge.

We muffed it – we’ve got Materials Unaccounted For

We muffed it – is that plutonium on the bathroom floor?

We muffed it – hey, where’s the door?

The supervisor’s out to lunch, the engineer’s out cold

So I tried to call up FEMA, then some jerk put me on hold.

But if FEMA talks to ERDA and if EACT brings in NEST,

We could really have a FRPPNE, which of course would be the best!

It’s a meltdown – this is the big one!

It’s a meltdown, put on your running shoes

A meltdown – right through the floor…there goes the core…hey, where’s the door?!

FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency

ERDA = Energy Research and Development Administration

EACT = Emergency Action and Coordination Team

NEST = Nuclear Emergency Search Team

FRPPNE = Federal Response Plan for Peacetime Nuclear Emergencies

THE SUN SONG

Words & music by Judy Allen

We’re gonna learn to live with what we’ve got,

We’re gonna save our money, save our watts

We’ll use the sun, that’s what we can do.

We’re gonna take responsibility

And learn to work with our abilities

To use the sun, the wind and water too.

The time has come to change the way we live,

We all have to give this our attention.

Now we know the score, less is really more,

How much we save depends on our invention.

We’re gonna find a better, cleaner way

To heat and cool our families every day

Our friend the sun, the sun will shine us through.

MURPHY’S LAW was written in 1979-80 by three actors and a writer, just after the worst accident in the nuclear industry’s history occurred at Three Mile Island in Harrisburg, Pa. It is the story of a group of people in a small town who get together to protest the unsafe practices at the local nuclear power plant.

Produced as an off-off-Broadway production in a church basement in June, 1980, and again in 1985 at the Schoolhouse Theatre in Croton Falls, NY, Murphy’s Law deals with nuclear energy issues that are still very much unresolved 25 years later. So we have created this selection for your entertainment and use at NRC hearings, music festivals and anti-nuclear events. For sheet music for the songs, write to ipsecpc@bestweb.net.

This CD is being made available by the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (www.ipsecinfo.org) and all proceeds will

go toward our campaign to close Indian Point, the nuclear plant 35 miles north of New York City. Enjoy!

Vocals: Judy Allen, Eva Marmorstein and Jim Occhino; Piano: Susan Kander.