What the US National Academy of Sciences says about low doses of radiation

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/nuclear-apologists-play-shoot-the-messenger-on-radiation-20110425-1du2w.html

Nuclear apologists play shoot the messenger on radiation

Helen Caldicott

April 26, 2011

<snip>Further, nuclear industry proponents assert that low doses of radiation produce no ill effects and are therefore safe. But, as a US National Academy of Sciences report concluded in 2007, no dose of radiation is safe, however small, including background radiation; exposure is cumulative, so that each dose (whether, for example, from a medical x-ray or from passing through the whole-body scanners soon to be introduced in Australian airports) adds to an individual's risk of developing cancer during his or her lifetime.

Regarding Chernobyl, various seemingly reputable groups have issued differing reports on the morbidity and mortalities resulting from the 1986 radiation catastrophe. The World Health Organisation in 2005 attributed only 43 human deaths directly to the disaster and estimated an additional 4000 fatal cancers. In contrast, a 2009 report published by the New York Academy of Sciences comes to a very different conclusion. Its scientist authors estimated the number of deaths attributable to the Chernobyl meltdown at about 980,000.

[Zoeisright]

1. No amount of radiation is safe.

THAT is the correct stance. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded, a paid shill, or stupid.

[EOTE]

4. Then we need to seal ourselves in tiny little boxes.

Because we're exposed to loads of radiation, natural and otherwise, every single day.

[Mnemosyne]

2. K&R for a simple truth. n/t

[defendandprotect]

3. Let's remember there's also PLUTONIUM in these Japanese reactors -- !!!