RE: Risks from low-level radiation reassessed

["Nardi, A. Joseph" <nardiaj@westinghouse.com>]

Another example of selected reporting?



Quotes from New Scientists news release:

"The risk of getting cancer from tiny amounts of radioactivity inside the

body could be 10 times higher than previously thought - but not hundreds of

times higher."



"But the uncertainties could cut both ways, either greatly increasing cancer

risks or reducing them to almost zero. In the circumstances, CERRIE urges

the adoption of a precautionary approach to protect public health."





Quotes from CERRIE news release:

"Uncertainties about the risks mean that in some cases we might be exposed

to 10 times the risk previously thought, while in other cases the risk may

be almost zero."



"However the Report finds no clear evidence to date that current radiation

risks are substantially wrong."



Quote from page 115 of the full report:

"The Committee concluded that it was important that doses and risks from

internal emitters should be calculated on the basis of best current

information, using central values, and with no bias towards 'conservatism'

or 'pessimism' (as is sometimes implied). Introduction of such subjective

considerations had no place in an objective assessment. The Committee agreed

that, where appropriate, dose and risk estimates should be combined with an

appreciation and explicit statement of the uncertainties involved. This

approach would help identify those situations in which a precautionary

approach might be appropriate, and was greatly to be preferred over one in

which conservative/pessimistic estimates were arbitrarily introduced at

various stages in the calculation."



Quote from page 117 of the full report:

"The Committee was not agreed on whether the biological evidence discussed

in this chapter had immediate implications for radiological protection

standards. A minority

of the Committee considered that this was so and that Government should give

consideration to the Precautionary Principle. Other members, whilst

generally supportive of a precautionary approach to the interpretation of

the science, did not share this view, principally because of their

perception of a current lack of coherence in the experimental data and

absence of clear links with health effects."



I have not read the entire report but I could not find any indication in the

CERRIE news release or the conclusions of the report where "---CERRIE urges

the adoption of a precautionary approach to protect public health." as

stated in the New Scientist news release.



Here is the link if you want to see the CERRIE report:

http://www.cerrie.org/





 A. Joseph Nardi

Westinghouse Electric Company

P.O. Box 355

Pittsburgh, PA 15230

Phone - 412-374-4652

FAX - 412-374-3357

email - nardiaj@westinghouse.com



-----Original Message-----

From: volkswagen181@HOTMAIL.COM [mailto:volkswagen181@HOTMAIL.COM] 

Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 10:03 AM

To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

Subject: Risks from low-level radiation reassessed







Your friend thought you should see this article on New Scientist.com today.

Follow the link below for the full story:



Risks from low-level radiation reassessed

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996550



Their message:

What to think about this?



André



New Scientist.com is the world's leading online science and technology news

service, with a global network of award-winning journalists. Visit

www.newscientist.com now for constantly updated and authoritative reporting

that's both fast and fascinating.

	

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