[ RadSafe ] The Campaign to Keep People Ignorant of Naturally Occurring Radiation Continues

Wed Jan 3 15:17:48 CST 2018

I think it is always useful to see what people are thinking and saying.  In particular I find it useful to read these because then I think about their arguments and develop coherent talking points to address these concerns should I be asked about them, rather than being caught off guard and having to invent an answer on the spot.   

-----Original Message-----
From: RadSafe [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Delvan Neville
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2018 3:04 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: [External_Sender] Re: [ RadSafe ] The Campaign to Keep People Ignorant of Naturally Occurring Radiation Continues

It isn't. Its just Roger forwarding on these sorts of blog posts, and I believe he intends to stop. He's been sharing them because he is outraged by them, not endorsing them, and thought they would foster discussion here.

On Wed, 3 Jan 2018, 6:02 am Jason Meade, <meadeja at vcu.edu> wrote:

> When did this group become a rabid anti-nuclear and F everyone who 
> tries to bring perspective into the discussion listserv?
>
> On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 4:01 AM, Roger Helbig <rwhelbig at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Jim Green exposes the nuclear lobby’s lies about bananas
> >
> > by Christina MacPherson
> >
> > “The more the nuclear industry claims eating plutonium, strontium, 
> > cesium, iodine and other fuel and fission products is OK because 
> > bananas exist and because the potassium is a needed nutrient, the 
> > more I consider them to be blatant liars.”
> >
> > The Banana Equivalent Dose of catastrophic nuclear accidents, Jim 
> > Green, Online Opinion, 20 December 2017,
> > http://onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19475&page=0
> >
> > The ‘Nuclear for Climate’ lobby group recently attended the United 
> > Nations’ COP23 climate conference armed with bananas, in order to 
> > make specious comparisons between radiation exposures from eating 
> > bananas and routine emissions from nuclear power plants.
> >
> > One of the reasons the comparison is specious is that some exposures 
> > are voluntary, others aren’t. Australian academic Prof. Barry Brook 
> > said in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster: “People don’t 
> > understand that they live in an environment that is awash with 
> > radiation and they make decisions every day which affect their 
> > radiation dose ‒ they hop on an airplane or eat a banana or sit 
> > close to the TV.” True ‒ but people choose to hop on an airplane or 
> > eat a banana or sit close to the TV, whereas radiation doses from 
> > nuclear plants and nuclear accidents are usually involuntary.
> >
> > Another reason why the comparison made by ‘Nuclear for Climate’ is 
> > specious is that it ignores spikes in radioactive emissions during 
> > reactor refueling. Radiation biologist Dr Ian Fairlie notes that 
> > when nuclear reactors are refueled, a 12-hour spike in radioactive 
> > emissions exposes local people to levels of radioactivity up to 500 
> > times greater than during normal operation. The spikes may explain 
> > infant leukemia increases near nuclear plants − but operators 
> > provide no warnings and take no measures to reduce exposures.
> >
> > The comparison between bananas and nuclear power plants also ignores 
> > the spike in emissions and radiation doses following catastrophic 
> > accidents. So, what’s the Banana Equivalent Dose (yes, that’s a 
> > thing) of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters?
> >
> > According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the 
> > collective effective dose from Chernobyl was 600,000 person-Sieverts.
> > The UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation 
> > estimates radiation exposure from the Fukushima disaster at 48,000 
> > person-Sieverts.
> >
> > Combined, exposure from Chernobyl and Fukushima is estimated at
> > 648,000 person-Sieverts. Exposure from eating a banana is estimated 
> > at between 0.09-2.3 microSieverts. Let’s use a figure of 0.1 
> > microSievert per banana. Thus, exposure from Chernobyl and Fukushima 
> > equates to
> > 6,480,000,000,000 Banana Equivalent Doses ‒ that’s 6.48 trillion 
> > bananas or, if you prefer, 6.48 terabananas or 6,480 gigabananas.
> >
> > End-to-end, that many 15-cm (6-inch) bananas would stretch 972 
> > million kilometres ‒ far enough to reach the sun 6.5 times over, or 
> > the moon
> > 2,529 times over.
> >
> > Potassium cycle
> >
> > Another reason the comparison made by ‘Nuclear for Climate’ is 
> > specious is explained by Dr Gordon Edwards from the Canadian 
> > Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility:
> >
> > “[T]he body already has a lot of “natural” potassium including K-40 
> > [which is unavoidable], and any new “natural” potassium ingested is 
> > balanced by eliminating a comparable amount of “natural” potassium 
> > to maintain the “homeostasis” of the body. In other words the body’s 
> > own mechanisms will not allow for a net increase in potassium levels 
> > – and therefore will not allow for an increase in K-40 content in the body.
> >
> > “Here’s what the Oak Ridge Associated Universities has to say; (ORAU 
> > was founded in 1946 as the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies.):
> > ‘The human body maintains relatively tight homeostatic control over 
> > potassium levels. This means that the consumption of foods 
> > containing large amounts of potassium will not increase the body’s 
> > potassium content. As such, eating foods like bananas does not 
> > increase your annual radiation dose. If someone ingested potassium 
> > that had been enriched in K-40, that would be another story.’
> >
> > “The same argument does not work for radioactive caesium, or for any 
> > of the radioactive pollutants given off by a nuclear power plant, 
> > because most of these materials do not exist in nature at all – and 
> > those that do exist in nature are not subject to the same 
> > homeostatic mechanism that the body uses to control potassium 
> > levels. Consequently any foodstuffs or beverages containing 
> > radioactive caesium or other man-made radioactive pollutants will 
> > cause an additional annual dose of ionizing radiation to the person so exposed.”
> >
> > Likewise, Linda Gunter explained in a 16 November 2017 article:
> >
> > “At the COP23 Climate Talks currently underway in Bonn, a group 
> > calling itself Nuclear for Climate, wants you to slip on their false 
> > banana propaganda and fall for their nonsensically unscientific 
> > notion that bananas are actually more dangerous than nuclear power 
> > plants! I am not making this up. Here is the picture.
> >
> > “The oxymoronic Nuclear for Climate people are handing out bananas 
> > complete with a sticker that reads: “This normal, every-day banana 
> > is more radioactive than living near a nuclear power plant for one year.”
> > …
> >
> > “If you smell something rotten in this banana business, you are right.
> > So let’s peel off the propaganda right now. In short, when you eat a 
> > banana, your body’s level of potassium-40 doesn’t increase. You just 
> > get rid of some excess potassium-40. The net dose of a banana is zero.
> >
> > “To explain in more detail, the tiny radiation exposure due to 
> > eating a banana lasts only for a few hours after ingestion, namely 
> > the time it takes for the normal potassium content of the body to be 
> > regulated by the kidneys. Since our bodies are under homeostatic 
> > control, the body’s level of potassium-40 doesn’t increase after eating a banana.
> > The body just gets rid of some excess potassium-40.
> >
> > “The banana bashers don’t want you to know this and instead try to 
> > pretend that the potassium in bananas is the same as the genuinely 
> > dangerous man-made radionuclides â€’ such as cesium-137 and
> > strontium-90 â€’ that are released into our environment from nuclear 
> > power facilities, from atomic bomb tests and from accidents like 
> > Fukushima and Chernobyl.
> >
> > “These radioactive elements, unlike the potassium-40 in bananas, are 
> > mistaken by the human body for more familiar elements. For example, 
> > ingested radioactive strontium-90 replaces stable calcium, and 
> > ingested radioactive cesium-137 replaces stable potassium. These 
> > nuclides can lodge in bones and muscles and irradiate people from 
> > within. This is internal radiation and can lead to very serious, 
> > long-lasting and trans-generational health impacts.”
> >
> > An unfortunate incident in Goiania, Brazil in September 1987 
> > illustrates the hazards of cesium-137, a fission product. Two people 
> > stole a radiotherapy source from a disused medical clinic. A 
> > security guard did not show up to work that day; he went instead to 
> > the cinema to see ‘Herbie Goes Bananas‘. The radiotherapy source 
> > contained 93 grams of cesium-137. It was sold to a junkyard dealer. 
> > Many people were exposed to the radioactive cesium and they spread 
> > the contamination to other sites within and beyond the town. At 
> > least four people died from exposure to the radiation source and, 
> > according to the IAEA, “many others” suffered radiation injuries. 
> > Those injured included eight patients who required surgical 
> > debridments, amputation of the digital extremities and plastic skin 
> > grafts. The incident was rated Level 5 (‘Accident with Off Site 
> > Risk’) on the 7-point International Nuclear Event Scale.
> >
> > Terrorists don’t arm themselves with bananas
> >
> > There is a long history of nuclear power plants being used directly 
> > and indirectly in support of nuclear weapons programs. Bananas are 
> > of no interest to nuclear weapons proliferators. There’s no Treaty 
> > on the Non-Proliferation of Bananas, no Comprehensive Test Banana 
> > Treaty, no Anti-Banana Missile Treaty. Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump 
> > aren’t threatening each other with bananas; not yet, at least.
> >
> > Nuclear historian Paul Langley notes that terrorists don’t arm 
> > themselves with bananas:
> >
> > “The potassium cycle in humans is no excuse for nuclear authorities 
> > anywhere on the planet to claim any benefit or natural precedent for 
> > the marketing of nuclear industry emissions contaminated food.
> >
> > “The fission products are not nutrients. Do not eat them. The 
> > nuclear industry promises to keep its radioactive sources sealed. 
> > When the industry invariably fails in this undertaking, it turns 
> > around and claims that the residue of its pollution is like a 
> > banana. Crap. The residue is like the residue of a rad weapon. Fact. 
> > It’s the same stuff. Terrorists do not attempt to arm themselves 
> > with bananas. They are not dangerous.
> >
> > “Radio Strontium, Radio Iodine, Radio cesium have NO PLACE in food.
> > Nuke is not clean, it is not green and it relies on lies it has 
> > concocted over decades. … The more the nuclear industry claims 
> > eating plutonium, strontium, cesium, iodine and other fuel and 
> > fission products is OK because bananas exist and because the 
> > potassium is a needed nutrient, the more I consider them to be blatant liars.”
> >
> > Christina MacPherson | December 20, 2017 at 9:07 pm | Categories: 2 
> > WORLD, Reference, spinbuster | URL: https://wp.me/phgse-yJH
> > :
> > http://nuclear-news.net/2017/12/20/jim-green-exposes-the-
> > nuclear-lobbys-lies-about-bananas/
> >
> > Thanks for flying with WordPress.com 
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>
>
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Jason A Meade, AS, BS, MHSA, RRPT, R.T.(T) Senior Radiation Safety 
> Specialist Virginia Commonwealth University
>
>
> Sanger Hall, B2-016
> 1101 East Marshall St
> PO Box 980112
> Richmond, VA 23298-0112
>
> meadeja at vcu.edu
>
> 330-347-0271 cell/work
> 804-828-0594 office
>
> "A society grows great
> when old men plant trees
> whose shade they know
> they shall never sit in."
> -Old Greek proverb
>
> "You call this bad? I'll tell you what bad is....
> Bad is passing test depth at 80 feet per second with a thirty degree 
> down bubble.
> Compared to that, this is a walk in the park."
> -Carlo Ciliberti
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