Is Atomic Radiation as Dangerous as We Thought?

Der Spiegel ^ | November 22, 2007 | Matthias Schulz

[E. Pluribus Unum]

A mounting number of studies are coming to some surprising conclusions about the dangers of nuclear radiation. It might not be as deadly as is widely believed.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Is Atomic Radiation as Dangerous as We Thought?

[rellimpank]

-—more on the subject—

—http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1930119/posts

[Steely Tom]

Related thread.

[Steely Tom]

Missed it by... that... much!

[rbg81]

You mean “The Hills Have Eyes” wasn’t based on fact?

[PeteB570]

That was interesting.

Thanks for posting it.

[Hunterite]

Yes radiation scare is blown out of proportion. Unfortunately this moves nukes closer to the “conventional weapons” category. eeks.

[WildWeasel]

It's OK to eat the fish.

[RightWhale]

As in the previous radiation threads, the main danger is lawsuits when terrorists detonate a dirty bomb.

[rellimpank]

—I have seen it asserted in print that vets of US nuke subs live longer than average—anybody out there know anything about that??

[Paleo Conservative]

—I have seen it asserted in print that vets of US nuke subs live longer than average—anybody out there know anything about that?

I bet the selection process for submariners gets rid of lots of people with bad habits that decrease life expectancy.

[oyez]

I grew up eating off Fiesta-ware glazed with Uranium Pigment. I even got some of the plates on display in the breakfast nook. I seem OK. Maybe not to other Freepers.

[yankeedame]

As in the previous radiation threads, the main danger is lawsuits when terrorists detonate a dirty bomb. Period.

[encm(ss)]

A US nuke boat sailor gets more radiation from shore duty than sea duty on a nuke submarine. By the way, a nuke boat is not a bomb.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Dr. Bernie Cohen, a health physicist at the University of Pittsburg offered to eat an amount of Plutonium equal in mass to an amount of caffeine ingested by Ralph Nader. He was calling B.S. on Nader’s claims about the toxicity of Plutonium.

[randog]

Most of my wife's family worked on the NV Test Site back in the days of above-ground shots. They tell stories of having to stay inside the school house for a couple of hours until a nuke cloud had passed. My father-in-law developed a curious chest tumor after scraping himself on a piece of heavy machinery while bulldozing dead irradiated animals off a blast site. He had the tumor removed and is still kicking into his seventies.

That being said, there are a lot of folks from that area that didn't make it into their sixties, but that may be attributed to other causes. Desert living can be hard on the body.

[Billthedrill]

I seem OK. Maybe not to other Freepers.

Well, don't listen to them. I think your tentacles are very handsome.

[M203M4]

Good article. The danger of low dose radiation (under 150 REM) is certainly exaggerated in the media (and of course, exposure levels themselves are themselves systematically exaggerated).

In the face of any data contrary to the anti-nuclear fictions weaved by the media, anti-nuclear activists, neo-luddites, we must contend with the inevitable straw-man argument - “radiation isn’t dangerous” - being refuted by observations of acute radiation poisoning occuring after exposure to between 1000 and 10,000 REM, followed by anecdotal stories of old hags trying to swindle millions out of entities having nothing to do with their hereditary diseases.

[lilylangtree]

Talk to the victims of Chernobyl if they’re any left.

[taxesareforever]

And the scaremongers prevent us from having the option of buying radiated food off store shelves. Yep, they know what is in our best interests. NOT!

Hard to believe that they physically carry the spent fuel cells. Maybe those black jackets are one foot of lead thickness. I don't even want that job.