[ RadSafe ] Will Unscear really divorce the LNT

Theo Richel theo at richel.org
Wed Jan 16 14:28:24 CST 2013


I hate to spoil the fun, but my initial enthusiasm for the Conca/Forbes
article
(http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/01/11/like-weve-been-saying
-radiation-is-not-a-big-deal/ ) on the supposed divorce from the LNT by
Unscear is cooling down. In the first phrase there is mention of a 'very
big report'. Now English is not my native language, so 'big' may also
mean 'important', but the only thing I have found so far is a piece of
13 pages
(http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/V12/553/85/PDF/V1255385.pdf?
OpenElement ) and nothing there comes close to what Conca claims 'It
concluded what we in nuclear science have been saying for decades -
radiation doses less than about 10 rem (0.1 Sv) are no big deal.'
Another quote  'UNSCEAR "does not recommend multiplying low doses by
large numbers of individuals to estimate numbers of radiation-induced
health effects within a population exposed to incremental doses at
levels equivalent to or below natural background levels" is indeed
there, but I find  this denouncement of the collective dose less
impressive than what he originally suggests. 
The author himself does not link to the original report , strangely, but
to a confusing piece  on Fukushima and the possible threshold of 100
mSv. So where is this report where Unscear says goodbye to the LNT? 


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