Radiation, Science, and Health

Author Index to Papers and Documents

Dr. Zbigniew Jaworowski
[bio]

Science Papers
Technical Articles
Conference Papers
Presentations
Correspondence

Technical Articles

The Future of UNSCEAR,  by Zbigniew Jaworowski, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., SCIENCE, VOL 297 19 JULY, 2002 [PDF 46KB]
     The existence of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) is in danger. Dramatic decreases in funding have virtually paralyzed its activities: This year the Committee was unable to convene to continue its scientific work.

UNSCEAR on the Health Effects from Chornobyl, by Zbigniew Jaworowski, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., Science, 293, Number 5530, 27 Jul 2001, pp. 605-606.
     "At the time of the accident, 134 employees of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and emergency workers received short-term whole-body doses ranging from 800 to 16,000 milligrays of radiation, 28 of whom, died within the first 4 months of the accident, due to acute radiation sickness. The fate of the 106 survivors who received doses of 1300 to 5300 milligrays has been monitored up to the present. There have been 11 deaths among them between 1987 and 1998. Only in three cases (one of myeloid leukemia and two of meylodysplastic syndrome) could the death be probably related to radiation."

The Truth About Chernobyl Is Told, by Zbigniew Jaworowski, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., 21st Century Science and Technology, Winter 2000-2001
     "The recent report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) is in total disagreement with the opinions widely propagated by the international media, by the Greens, and by the governments of Belarus and Ukraine, that there have been tens of thousands of cancer deaths and epidemics of genetic disorders, allegedly caused by the Chernobyl accident. To the contrary, UNSCEAR states, even among the progeny of the survivors of the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who received radiation doses hundreds of times higher than the radiation doses to the inhabitants of regions contaminated by the Chernobyl accident, no radiogenetic disturbances of health have been found."

Radiation Risk and Ethics, by Zbigniew Jaworowski, Prof., Sept. 1999, Physics Today.  
      "The established worldwide practice of protecting people from radiation costs hundreds of billions of dollars a year to implement and may well determine the world's future energy system. But is it right? The global average dose has increased by about 20% since the beginning of the 20th century—mainly as a result of the broader application of x-ray diagnostics in medicine. Other major sources of man-made radiation, such as nuclear power, nuclear weapons tests, and the Chernobyl accident, have contributed only a tiny proportion—less than 0.1%—to that increase."

Conference Papers

Ionizing Radiation and Radioactivity in the  20^th Century, 2000, Zbigniew Jaworowski, Ph.D., Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection, Warsaw, Poland, at the Int'l Conf on Radiation and its Role in Diagnosis and Treatment. FICR - 2000. Tehran, Iran, Oct. 18-20, 2000.
      "After ionizing radiation and radioactivity were discovered at the end of the 19^th century their social status has oscillated between enthusiastic acceptance and rejection. This was in concurrence with recognition of their three basic aspects: 1) usefulness for medical applications and for technical and scientific aims; 2) beneficial effects of their low levels; and 3) harmful effects of high levels. In the first part of the 20^th century the acceptance prevailed, in the second the rejection. The change of the public mood, that occurred rather abruptly after the World War II, was not due to discovery of some new danger of radiation, but was caused by political and social reasons, not related to real radiation effects."

Presentations
Radiation Risks in the 20th Century; Reality, Illusions and Risks by Zbigniew Jaworowski, September 1998, in Warsaw, Poland. This is the text of the Prof. Jaworowski's Lecture at the "Discovery of Polonium and Radium; It's Scientific and Philosophical Consequences, Benefits and Treats for Mankind" International Conference (100th Anniversary of the Discovery of Polonium and Radium by Marie Sklodowska- Curie), held 17-20 September 1998 in Warsaw, Poland. "We are all exposed to natural ionizing radiation, which penetrates all living organisms. Radiation comes from the cosmos and from radionuclides present in rocks, buildings, and air, and in our own body. Each flake of snow, grain of soil, drop of rain, a flower, and even each man in the street is a source of this radiation."
 

Correspondence