Radiation vs conventional ATB casualties AW: [ RadSafe ]"ChernobylRadiation Equal to Everyday Risks" - JimSmith, UK

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

"Yet nonetheless dead.  That's like saying my prostate cancer won't kill me because I got hit by a beer truck."

I liken it more to including victims of gang shootings as having died of lead poisoning in order to make your argument for banning lead solder in drinking water systems.  Overstating risk is as lacking in integrity as understating it.  Overstating may encourage the public and policy makers to take action, but it often turns out to be counter-productive action (like keeping old coal-fired power plants running rather than replacing them with nuclear power, because the risk from spent fuel is exaggerated and the risk from coal waste ignored.)  

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Rainer.Facius at dlr.de
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 6:17 AM
To: Lee_M_Livesey at RL.gov; Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us; Rad_Sci_Health at yahoogroups.com; radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: AW: Radiation vs conventional ATB casualties AW: [ RadSafe ]"ChernobylRadiation Equal to Everyday Risks" - JimSmith, UK

In the context of radiation protection (of workers!), I occasionally encounter and have to counter the (activists') argument of the "Strahlenhölle von Hiroshima und Nagasaki" (radiation hell of H&N) in order to demonstrate the danger from ionizing radiation. It was this mindless misuse that my comment was addressing. Most of the hell was quite conventional.

RF



________________________________

Von: Livesey, Lee M [mailto:Lee_M_Livesey at RL.gov]
Gesendet: Mi 04.04.2007 13:54
An: Facius, Rainer; Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us; Rad_Sci_Health at yahoogroups.com; radsafe at radlab.nl
Betreff: RE: Radiation vs conventional ATB casualties AW: [ RadSafe ] "ChernobylRadiation Equal to Everyday Risks" - JimSmith, UK


Yet nonetheless dead.  That's like saying my prostate cancer won't kill me because I got hit by a beer truck.

Sent from my GoodLink synchronized handheld (www.good.com)

 -----Original Message-----
From:   Rainer.Facius at dlr.de [mailto:Rainer.Facius at dlr.de]
Sent:   Wednesday, April 04, 2007 02:37 AM Pacific Standard Time
To:     Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us; Rad_Sci_Health at yahoogroups.com; radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject:        Radiation vs conventional ATB casualties AW: [ RadSafe ] "ChernobylRadiation Equal to Everyday Risks" - JimSmith, UK

"Many of the approximately 210,000 people who died in the immediate aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were victims of ARS."

The above quote from Smith's laudable and professional attempt to evaluate radiation risks relative to other frequent health risks could be read as to perpetuate a frequent misunderstanding. Among the immediate victims, at least 85% but possibly up to 95% were killed by the purely conventional effects of the explosion, i.e., by heat, fire, pressure, injuries from tumbling building materials etc. Only the remainder lost their lives due to the acute radiation syndrome. Of course in absolute terms these still are (too) many, yet only a minor fraction of the total loss.

BTW, the total number of late cancer deaths assigned to the radiation exposure of the about 80000 RERF-ATB survivors amounts to (recently) less than 600 in the 60(!!!) years of follow-up.

Rainer

Dr. Rainer Facius
German Aerospace Center
Institute of Aerospace Medicine
Linder Hoehe
51147 Koeln
GERMANY
Voice: +49 2203 601 3147 or 3150
FAX:   +49 2203 61970



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