Fear of Radiation is Killing People and Endangering the Planet Too

Abstract

We are permitting tens of thousands of real people to die needlessly each year becausesome people fear that the alternative might pose a hazard to hypothetical people frompostulated events that have never happened. The real people are dying from foodpoisoning, from inhaling particulate matter from coal-fired power plants, from avoidingmammograms, x-rays, MRIs, and other life-saving technologies, from unwillingness to usesmoke-detectors containing radioactivity, and many other such fears. In addition, theplanet is threatened by global warming, acid rain, smog, toxic runoff, and shortages ofdrinking water. Use of nuclear technologies could ameliorate all these problems, but manypeople are afraid because we have told them that even the tiniest amounts of radiation arehazardous. This is simply not true, and we should start saying so. In fact, there isconsiderable evidence that therapeutic doses of low-level ionizing radiation would bebeneficial for most people.