Linear Hypothesis IS the Cause of Public Fear of Radiation

[xat@inel.gov (Alden Tschaeche)]

I have seen several statements lately on RADSAFE that say the Linear
No-Threshold Hypothesis (LNTH) IS NOT the cause of fear in the minds of
the public of low levels of ionizing radiation.  I rabidly, explosively,
and absolutely diagree with those statements.  The LNTH IS the cause of
the public fear, or, rather, the corruption of the LNTH idea is the
cause.  The LNTH says: "there MAY BE some harmful effect of low doses." 
The MAY BE has been corrupted into IS by the nuclear community, the anti
nuclear people, the media, the legislators and the public.  See my
commentary in the July 1995 issue of the HPS Newsletter where I give a
few examples of the corruption.  If the RADSAFE community believes that
low doses DO cause harm, what is the public to think?  If the RADSAFE
community does not believe that the LNTH corruption causes fear of low
level radiation in the public mind, I would like to see scientific
evidence of what it is that causes the fear.  Of course there are other
things that cause the fear: Chernobyl, TMI, etc.  But all of the fears
boil down to the one and the only:  fear of radiation and its perceived
harmful effects.  The LNTH perpetuates that fear.  The LNTH corruption
is the cause!  Al Tschaeche xat@inel.gov

Golly, am I too emphatic?