Nation IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : 100 Protest Plans for Saturn Space Probe

About 100 people gathered in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for a peaceful protest against NASA’s plans to launch a nuclear-powered space probe to the planet Saturn. The protesters said the Cassini probe would scatter plutonium over a wide area of Florida and kill thousands of people if its rocket exploded during launch. They said millions could be affected worldwide if the probe plunged into the atmosphere when it passes close to the Earth during its seven-year voyage to Saturn. The $3.4-billion spacecraft is scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral in October 1997 atop a Titan 4, the most powerful U.S. unmanned rocket. It is due to arrive at the ringed planet in July 2004. Cassini is powered by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which contain non-weapons-grade plutonium.