nuclear-news

They say radiation is safe. Don’t believe it

John LaForge discusses the unbelievable: “The Obama administration, the EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the FDA will be dismantling their emergency radiation monitoring.”…

Corporations influence Congress and the president through campaign contributions. PG&E will continue lobbying the public, stating how safe nuclear power is. No doubt they will use the argument about low doses of radiation being safe.

Safe radioactivity? Experts say no, Santa Maria Times, 19 Aug 11, James Murr, The nuclear industry has been telling us it is a clean and safe type of energy. In view of the problems still raging in Japan at the Fukushima plant, it is considered an uncontrolled disaster.

Nuclear engineers and physicists claim small doses are legal and cannot harm us. It was our political system, bought and paid for by corporate campaign contributions, that legalized small releases of radiation from power plants. Otherwise, nuclear power plants would not be able to operate.

In the May issue of Z Magazine, John LaForge wrote an article, “Dangerous Plumes of Disinformation,” pointing out that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states “any exposure to radiation poses some risk.” The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says any exposure can increase risk of cancer.

The Department of Energy, according to LaForge, maintains that low levels of exposure present a small risk of cancer. On the other hand, the National Academy of Sciences, in its “Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII,” states “that it is unlikely that a threshold exists for the induction of cancers.” In other citations, Drs. Marvin Resnikoff and Ian Fairlie say there is no dose too low.

Helen Caldicott, MD, wrote a book, “Unsafe at any Dose.” She reports data about the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

By 2009, nearly a million Russians died from cancers and cystic fibrosis. She cites the 2009 report published by the New York Academy of Sciences. She notes there are Russian group homes established for children born with deformities.

CounterPunch Weekend Edition of June 10-12 published a column, “Is the Dramatic Increase in Baby Deaths in the U.S. a Result of Fukushima Fallout?” Janette Sherman, MD, and Joseph Mangano wrote the article.

They reviewed data from the Department of Health and Human Services, CDC and National Center for Health Statistics, and determined there was a 35-percent increase in infant mortality in the Pacific Northwest to Boise, Idaho, and Santa Cruz, Sacramento and San Francisco. These infants were less than a year old.

The Sacramento Bee, March 18, 2011, reported that UC Berkeley nuclear engineers detected radioactive iodine 181 times above the federal limits for drinking water in the Bay Area.

The Boston Globe on March 27, 2011, reported rainwater with radioactive iodine, which is dangerous for up to 80 days.

The July/August Z Magazine quotes sources like Forbes, which reported on April 11 that cesium from Fukushima has been found in Vermont milk. The article, “Japan’s Fukushima Disaster, Echoes of Chernobyl and War,” by John LaForge, disclosed that cesium and tellurium has been detected in Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii, Florida and Utah.

Radioactive iodine has been discovered in drinking water throughout the Pacific Northwest, Northern California across the Midwest, and to New England.

John LaForge discusses the unbelievable: “The Obama administration, the EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the FDA will be dismantling their emergency radiation monitoring.”

One group, Beyond Nuclear, warns the government will look at the milk supply once every three months to see if it is contaminated.

Corporations influence Congress and the president through campaign contributions. PG&E will continue lobbying the public, stating how safe nuclear power is. No doubt they will use the argument about low doses of radiation being safe.

This reminds one of the tobacco industry claims in the 1950s that one cannot prove a link between tobacco and lung cancer.

It takes five-10 years to develop leukemia, an aggressive type of cancer. Diablo Canyon must close after the license expires in 2025 and 2026. Citizens should never have to risk a nuclear disaster.

http://santamariatimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/commentary/safe-radioactivity-experts-say-no/article_1bc6d706-ca25-11e0-b0f7-001cc4c03286.html

August 19, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, spinbuster