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Time to dispel the secrecy about nuclear radiation effects

Before the Bomb – book review. Online opinion, by Noel Wauchope,  9 Nov 09 Where do we go, to find out about the radiological effects of atomic weapons?We usually seek out the rather patchy and incomplete stories of the victims – those at the “receiving end” of bombing, at Hiroshima, or of the atomic tests of Nevada, of Mururoa, Montebello, Maralinga. These have been covered in several books.But, how much was known about these radiological effects before the Bomb?

Here, at last, is the book that answers this question. And Paul Langley’s book The Prediction of the Radiological Effects of Atomic Bombs From Knowledge Published Prior to August 1945 answers it with evidence in forensic detail, a plenitude of exact primary documentary evidence, including digital evidence available on the Internet.

This is also a book that raises questions: questions that matter very much right now. Today, World War II veterans, Pacific Islanders, Navajo people and Australian Aborigines seek acknowledgment and justice for their diseases from exposure to radiation. Iraqi doctors and communities, and US, Canadian and UK Gulf War veterans claim health damage from depleted uranium. Where is the truth?

Since the early 1940s, public knowledge of, and safety guidance on, the radiation effects of atomic weapons has relied on information from the US Atomic Energy Commission. The AEC also supplied radioisotopes for medicine: atoms for healing and atoms for killing. Can we, should we, rely on AEC’s data, to give the public the whole truth?……………………

This is not an easy book to read. One can feel weighed down by its technical detail. So, for some people, it might best find its place as a reference work

However, the detail is necessary. It is a very original idea, to explore and expose the motivations behind the Manhattan project, and behind the continuing secrecy about radiological warfare. No doubt there are many who would like to dismiss Paul Langley’s book because ” he is not a nuclear physicist.” Langley is a former soldier, with a background of Army training and experience in the use of RADIAC instruments and radiation safety, But it is pretty hard to ignore all that well-reasoned and well-documented evidence.

Before the Bomb – book review – On Line Opinion – 9/11/2009

November 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment