AW: [ RadSafe ] Chernobyl's Reduced Impact

[farbersa at optonline.net]

Hi all,
Re: the post by Rainer Facius below and this thread, I recall reading a quote by Dr. Edward Teller decades ago which was something like:

"Fears of radiation have caused more deaths that radiation itself."

The quote above is my best recollection of the quote, but may not be exactly as Teller stated the thought.

Stewart Farber
farbersa at optonline.net
=================



----- Original Message -----
From: Rainer.Facius at dlr.de
Date: Friday, September 9, 2005 8:46 am
Subject: AW: [ RadSafe ] Chernobyl's Reduced Impact

> One more source:
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=4370135
> 
> 
> 
> <quote>Perhaps the true tragedy of Chernobyl is that the biggest 
> observable health impact so far has been on the mental health of 
> the millions who have been told they are at risk. Many of these 
> people received radiation doses no larger than they would get on a 
> holiday in a place such as Denver, where the altitude increases 
> exposure to cosmic rays, yet they have spent their lives 
> anticipating illness and incapacity, and this has translated into 
> such undesirable behaviours as drug abuse and long-term dependency 
> on the state.<end quote> 
> 
> 
> 
> To my knowledge it was Klaus Becker who most aptly coined the word 
> RADIOPHOBIA for the mental condition whose symptoms and 
> consequences are described in this article as in many others these 
> days. Becker used it at a time when the full implications were 
> only perceived by those who had not yet lost the ability to 
> discriminate between data and postulates. These reports should 
> finally immunise us against the contention that - while 
> potentially being wrong - it might nevertheless be prudent to act 
> according to the LNT postulate (including the ensuing ALARA 
> incantation) since it does no harm. Unless we succeed in 
> eradicating this mental bug it will continue to exact its 
> sacrifices - among individuals as well as in the society as a whole.
> 
> 
> 
> Regards, Rainer
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> Von: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl im Auftrag von Stabin, Michael
> Gesendet: Do 08.09.2005 13:13
> An: RADSAFE
> Betreff: [ RadSafe ] Chernobyl's Reduced Impact
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The last paragraph is interesting, especially considering the source.
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> --------------------------------
> Chernobyl's Reduced Impact
> NY Times Editorial: September 8, 2005
> 
> An authoritative scientific report commissioned by the United Nations
> has found that the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power 
> plant in
> rural Ukraine - the worst nuclear accident in history - caused far 
> lesshealth and environmental damage than originally feared.......