[ RadSafe ] Special issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

[parthasarathy k s]

Dear Dr Scot Bobby,

I hope you had a chance to have a quick look at the recently (May 1st, 2012) issued special issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists covering effects of low level radiation.

You can access it at:

http://bos.sagepub.com/content/current
I shall greatly appreciate  your critical appraisal of the issue. I have the following preliminary observations:

1) Though the objective of the publication is to equip members of the public with broad information on  the effects of low level radiation, the authors with a few exceptions gave the impression that they believe that radiation is riskier than what is believed.

2) While reviewing radiation effects, new phenomena such as Radiation Repair Foci (RRF) which are shown to influence low dose interactions favorably were not even mentioned. The report of the French Academy of Sciences which is critical of LNT concept is dismissed without any discussion. BEIR VII report is favourably mentioned while  the "French study has been criticized, not just on the merits, but also for lack of objectivity"

3) Work of EPRI is also criticized  because of its relation with industry; Bulletin is known to be anti nuclear power 

4) The weaknesses of the Life Span Study is highlighted well. But supported the 15 nation 
nuclear worker study on cancer. The author does not consider the deficiencies in pooling the occupational histories of workers from  different countries to improve the statistical power of the study though they have different genetic make up .

5) ON the whole the Bulletin tries to exaggerate the risks of radiation. Public as a neutral stakeholder is not given a chance to appreciate the complete picture.

I request you to read the special issue and give your views on it for the benefit of the list.
I am marking this message to the list and to a few list members for their participation in the discussion,

Regards

Parthasarathy