Department of Energy Pretends that Low Levels of Radiation Are Safe
Dr. Peter Karamoskos – a nuclear radiologist and a public representative on the radiation health committee of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency – wrote [7] in the Sydey Herald last year:
You have to hand it to the nuclear industry and its acolytes. In the middle of the second-worst nuclear power disaster in history at Fukushima, and with still no end in sight, you would think they would respond with contrition, humility and profuse mea culpas. Not on your life. The industry representatives and its acolytes came out swinging in full denial attire.
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But more insidious and objectionable is the creeping misinformation that the nuclear industry has fed into the public sphere over the years. There seems to be a never-ending cabal of paid industry scientific ”consultants” who are more than willing to state the fringe view that low doses of ionising radiation do not cause cancer and, indeed, that low doses are actually good for you and lessen the incidence of cancer.
It is not only the nuclear companies who are pushing this junk science.
The Department of Energy is responsible for the design, testing and production of all U.S. nuclear weapons [8]. DOE also promotes nuclear energy [9] as one of its core functions. As such, it might not be surprising that DOE has been covering up nuclear accidents for decades [10].
DOE is also trying to replace the widely-accepted model of the dangers of low dose radiation based on voodoo science. Specifically, DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Labs recently used a mutant line of human cells in a petri dish which was able to repair damage from low doses of radiation, and extrapolated to the unsupported conclusion that everyone [11] is immune to low doses of radiation:
Another DOE-funded study published yesterday [12] – which is being widely publicized in both the mainstream and alternative media – found that mice exposed to low-level radiation suffered no “apparent” genetic damage. Sounds impressive, until you realize a 3 basic facts.
First, the mice were only studied for 5 weeks. The whole danger of low-level radiation is from repeated exposure over a long period. A 5-week study is therefore scientifically meaningless.
Second, the study didn’t distinguish between radiation coming from outside the body and particles of radiation ingested into the body: what are known as “internal emitters”. Internal emitters – say airborne radioactive dust which we breathe in or radioactive fish which we eat – are much more dangerous [13] than general exposures to radiation. See this [14] and this [15].
For example, the head of a Tokyo-area medical clinic – Dr. Junro Fuse, Internist and head of Kosugi Medical Clinic- said [16] this month:
Risk from internal exposure is 200-600 times greater than risk from external exposure.
Third, the researchers only [12]:
Tested for several types of DNA damage, using the most sensitive techniques available.
However, DNA damage is only 1 of the 2 main ways in which low level radiation causes damage. The second – and perhaps more important [17] – way that low level radiation causes damage is through the creation of free radicals. Specifically, several studies [17] have shown that radiolysis of water, formation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation in the body are the main culprits for the damaging effect of low-level radiation. The DOE-funded study didn’t test for free radical creation.
As such, the new study is garbage and junk science.
Real Scientists: Low Levels of Radiation Can Cause Cancer, Genetic Damage and Other Serious Illness
The overwhelming consensus among radiation scientists is that repeated exposure to low doses of radiation can cause cancer, genetic mutations and other severe health problems [18].
A major new study [19] of atomic bomb data by the official joint U.S.-Japanese government study of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors found that low dose radiation causes cancer and genetic damage, and debunks the radiation “hormesis” claim (the ridiculous claim that a little radiation is good for you) once and for all:
As Dr. Karamoskos notes [7]:
Ionising radiation is a known carcinogen. This is based on almost 100 years of cumulative research including 60 years of follow-up of the Japanese atom bomb survivors. The International Agency for Research in Cancer [20] (IARC, linked to the World Health Organisation) classifies it as a Class 1 carcinogen, the highest classification indicative of certainty of its carcinogenic effects.In 2006, the US National Academy of Sciences released its Biological Effects of Ionising Radiation (VII) report, which focused on the health effects of radiation doses at below 100 millisieverts. This was a consensus review that assessed the world’s scientific literature on the subject at that time. It concluded: “. . . there is a linear dose-response relationship between exposure to ionising radiation and the development of solid cancers in humans. It is unlikely that there is a threshold below which cancers are not induced.”
The most comprehensive study of nuclear workers by the IARC, involving 600,000 workers exposed to an average cumulative dose of 19mSv, showed a cancer risk consistent with that of the A-bomb survivors.
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IARC states that ”by 2065, predictions based on these models indicate that about 16,000 cases of thyroid cancer and 25,000 cases of other cancers may be expected due to radiation from the accident and that about 16,000 deaths from these cancers may occur”. Whether we will be able to detect them when there will also be more than 1 million other cases of cancer over this period is debatable. But every one of these excess cancers is a tragedy for each victim and their family, and is no less so simply because cancer is a common disease.
Many studies have shown that repeated exposures to low levels of ionizing radiation from CT scans and x-rays can cause cancer. See this [21], this [22], this [23], this [24], this [25], this [26], this [27], this [28] and this [29]. (Remember, the radiation from CT scans and x-rays are external emitters – the radiation emanates from outside the body.)
Research from the University of Iowa cconcluded [30]:
Cumulative radon exposure is a significant risk factor for lung cancer in women.
And see these studies [31] on the health effects cumulative doses of radioactive cesium.
As the European Committee on Radiation Risk notes [32]:
Cumulative impacts of chronic irradiation in low doses are … important for the comprehension, assessment and prognosis of the late effects of irradiation on human beings …
And see this [33].
A military briefing written by the U.S. Army for commanders in Iraq states [34]:
Hazards from low level radiation are long-term, not acute effects… Every exposure increases risk of cancer.
(Military briefings for commanders often contain less propaganda than literature aimed at civilians, as the commanders have to know the basic facts to be able to assess risk to their soldiers.)
The briefing states that doses are cumulative, citing the following military studies and reports:
- ACE Directive 80-63, ACE Policy for Defensive Measures against Low Level Radiological Hazards during Military Operations, 2 AUG 96
- AR 11-9, The Army Radiation Program, 28 MAY 99
- FM 4-02.283, Treatment of Nuclear and Radiological Casualties, 20 DEC 01
- JP 3-11, Joint Doctrine for Operations in NBC Environments, 11 JUL 00
- NATO STANAG 2473, Command Guidance on Low Level Radiation Exposure in Military Operations, 3 MAY 00
- USACHPPM TG 244, The NBC Battle Book, AUG 02
Why was the military advising commanders on radiation in Iraq? Presumably because the American military used depleted uranium in Iraq (see this [35], this [36], this [37], this [38], this [39] and this [40]).
Indeed, the top government radiation experts [18] – like Karl Morgan, John Goffman and Arthur Tamplin – and scientific luminaries such as Ernest Sternglass and Alice Stewart, concluded that low level radiation can cause serious health effects.
Low levels of radiation cause not only cancer, but heart disease, stroke and other serious illness [41].
And its not just humans: scientists have found that animals receiving low doses of radiation from Chernobyl are sick as well [42].
Nuclear Cheerleaders Just Trying to “Keep People Calm While They’re Being Poisoned”?
This is actually part of the trend of governments worldwide raising acceptable radiation levels based upon politics [43].
No wonder one medical doctor asks whether acceptable radiation levels are being raised “to keep people calm [44] while they’re being poisoned”.
Indeed, while counter-intuitive, many preeminent scientists believe that repeated doses to low level radiation can cause more illness than short, high-dose exposures [45]. And see this [19].