Re: Anti-radiation article -Thoughts please!

[Joseph Archer <captainnuke@earthlink.net>]

1 in 287 fatal cancers per milirem over 70 years. I guess that means for a
natural background of 360 mrem/year, everyone is going to die of cancer
naturally and some of us will have to die twice.

Joe Archer
captainnuke@earthlink.net

Aaron Oakley wrote:

> Comments please!
>
> Your thoughts on the following (anti-radiation) article would be
> appreciated!
>
> Dr Aaron Oakley
>
> 8<--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
> What is a SAFE DOSE of radiation?
> The International Committee on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended
> standard of 1
> millisievert (1 mSv) annual maximum exposure for the public.
> This translates, using ICRP's dose - response assumptions, to a risk
> of 3.5 fatal cancers in 1000 people exposed annually over a lifetime of 70
> years. This is a lifetime fatal cancer risk of 1 in 286.
>
> The regulation of toxic substances in the U.S. looks protective in
> comparison. These also allow a lethal risk to those exposed, but the limit
> is
> set at only 1 fatal cancer in 100,000 or in some cases, 1 in 10,000. Policy
> makers also debate whether it is acceptable for industrial activities to
> result in one death in a million. The nuclear industry is enjoying
> tremendous privilege, literally a licence to kill members of the public
> in the course of normal operations.
>
> The dose limits for workers in the uranium mining industry are even more
> dangerous.
>
> Deaths per million workers
> per year, worldwide:
>
> Manufacturing workers                  110
> Construction workers                    164
> Radiation workers @ 3mSv       5,500
> Radiation workers @ 20mSv  37,500
> (mSv = milliSievert, a measurement of
> radiation. Source: ICRP27/ICRP60)
>
> These estimates all rest on the
> shaky foundation that there is a safe
> limit, a dose of radiation so low that
> no harm results. Many studies,
> bitterly disputed or ignored by the
> industry, show that this is not the
> case. Any dose of radiation can
> increase the risk of disease.
>
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