By Jim Muckerheide

Waste Management '99
Tucson, AZ

March 1999

References

The identification, and organization, of radiation health effects data, is needed to effectively apply the large body of relevant, valid, scientific data. The existing data are being organized to provide an initial basis to undertake the necessary credible, rigorous, technical review needed to reassess the bases produced by ICRP, NCRP and BEIR Committees that ignore substantial data to characterize low level radiation as a hazard. Such a reassessment and reexamination of the bases for regulation has been called for by the NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste¹.

The Radiation, Science, and Health, data source document provides extensive relevant data². It incorporates the contributions of many independent, knowledgeable, radiation scientists and public policy analysts, working in the public interest. This "Data Document" is being updated to incorporate additional significant data from existing and developing scientific sources.

The data is organized by exposed population. Human populations are: the Japanese atomic bomb survivors, occupationally exposed, medically exposed, radium dial painters and other radium-burden populations, and populations exposed to weapons and facility releases, and natural radiation sources, including radon. Data are also presented from animal studies; cellular and molecular biology studies, and biological modeling studies.

The document includes BEIR V data that document the lack of health effects³. Data will also be included from the few studies that are claimed to support the linear model, which are insubstantial and unconfirmed, or substantially misrepresented. This includes the occupational exposure study by IARC⁴ that misrepresents its own data^5,6,7, and the mega-mouse studies at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that misrepresented the data^8.9, back to the 1950’s. Unreported programs and studies are also being identified, including animal and cellular studies with potassium from which the radioactive K-40 had been removed¹⁰, the $10Million, 10-year study of the Nuclear Shipyard Workers completed in 1987^11,12,13, and others.

Research programs are identified that indicate the lack of adverse effects at low to moderate doses, and beneficial effects to significant populations, that have been terminated or not funded to assess substantial epidemiological and biological data of significant populations. Such programs include the Center for Human Radiobiology, established to follow the radium dial painters and other radium populations for their lifetimes^14,15,16, the study of the "high-dose" AEC/DOE workers at Oak Ridge¹⁷, and others.

Current radiation science and radiation protection policies are contrary to the scientific evidence. They have been characterized within the knowledgeable biology and radiation science community as they "disagree with modern oncology,"¹⁸ are "without scientific foundation,"¹⁹ "an immoral use of our scientific heritage,"²⁰ and "the greatest scientific scandal of the 20^th Century."²¹

These policies cause direct public costs of US$ 100s Billions, to limit radioactivity to levels that are below 0.1% of the variation in natural background radiation, which varies by more than a factor of 10²². No more than a few percent of such expenditures contribute any public health and safety benefits. Such wasted expenditures are especially significant and immoral in economically constrained societies, with significant real health needs. Indirect costs of the loss of public benefits from nuclear and radiation technologies are much greater.

Introduction

Data Exist at the Doses and Populations to Establish that no Adverse Effects Exist.

1. The Japanese atomic bomb survivors

2. Nuclear Reactor Facility Exposed Populations

3. Medically-exposed Populations

4. Radium-burden Population

5. Nuclear Weapons and Facilities Releases

6. Natural Background Radioactivity

7. Animal and Plant Biology

8. Cellular and Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Cancer Research

9. Biological models

10. Nutrition and health

11. Costs

Conclusions

References

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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Email: jmuckerheide@ www.radscihealth.org
rad_sci_health@comcast.net