Letter to NPR

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

	In response to the coverage of the Japanese nuclear accident on
National Public Radio Morning Report, I sent the following:

	In your Oct. 1 coverage of the Japanese nuclear accident, you
explained the health effects of radiation by interviewing a representative
of Union of Concerned Scientists. That organization is a highly political
one with no standing in the scientific community. There are true
scientific experts on health effects of radiation in many dozens of U.S.
Universities, and any one of them would have been a more credible source
of information on the subject. There is also Health Physics Society, the
international scientific Society of experts on the subject which would
have been the most credible source of information. Use of organizations
with a strong political agenda as a source of scientific information is
highly irresponsible for NPR.

Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245
Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu


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