Our friend, the atom

The German magazine Der Spiegel published an article in November that documents many studies showing that radiation is not as dangerous as is commonly thought.

For example, of all the people who died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, only about seven hundred actually died of radiation. Most who were not killed outright by the blast died of burns, not radiation. And there is no documented evidence of any increase in birth defects among the offspring of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagazaki. And only forty-seven died from radiation exposure in the Chernobyl reactor accident. Yes, there were many thousands of cases of thyroid cancer after Chernobyl, but only nine died of those cancers.

It appears that, while you still wouldn't want to eat radium, you shouldn't be as afraid of radiation as you are.

Read the article and see what you think.

Posted: Thu - January 17, 2008 at 01:42 PM

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Our friend, the atom

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