Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Nuclear is for Life: a cultural revolution

By Tom Quirk - posted Monday, 8 February 2016


The South Australian Royal Commissioners looking into nuclear energy and politicians both state and federal should read Nuclear is for Life by Wade Allison. It is a "tour d'horizon" of the scientific understanding of radiation and the human body. It should also be read by all the NGO and green activists who assembled in Paris last November in the City of (nuclear) Lights.

The simple central message of this book is that we have been mistaken about the hazards of nuclear power. Some of this has been willful and some well intentioned.

Fukushima, Chenobyl, Three Mile Island, weapons tests and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are all discussed. The subsequent histories of those exposed to radiation are followed and in some cases compared to those who were present but not exposed. For nuclear power stations only Chenobyl stands out with the death of those who actually fought the fire at the reactor and the children who got thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine in cows' milk. The latter was due to the inaction of Soviet authorities to a well known radiation danger. The biggest health hazard for both Chenobyl and Fukushima was the extraordinary mental stress placed on those who were moved from their farms and houses. This problem was identified at Chenobyl but the action was repeated at Fukushima.

Advertisement

Wade Allison draws some comparisons with the radiation treatment of cancers where doses are enough to kill the cancerous cells but the surrounding tissues with lesser doses recover. Another interesting comparison is our attitude to skin cancer, melanoma, and UV light. More deaths arise from the UV radiation than the estimated risk let alone the occurrence of cancers from nuclear radiation. We don't stay in the dark but rather try to take sensible precautions during our summers but the risk of cancer remains.

Our living cells are a result of over two billion years of surviving and evolving to give reproductive protection for cell division and for us animals an immune system to police the behaviour of cells. All this has occurred in an environment where radiation was ever present. This leads to an assessment of the present regulatory limits set for safe radiation exposure. In brief, for living tissues, the present regulatory approach is wrong. Living tissue repairs itself.

The Precautionary Principle is dealt with and then dismissed. This follows Lord Kelvin's advice that nothing was worth discussing until reduced to numbers.

Finally "the Great and the Good" are put in their place. There is a splendid example of Linus Pauling writing to President Kennedy with a catalogue of radiation-induced abnormalities amongst new born babies. It is now clear that Linus Pauling was wrong. It is unfortunately not remarkable as Silent Spring – DDT mosquitoes and the environment (think Zika virus), the Club of Rome – resource limits, The Population Bomb- food shortages and riots, The Cooling - a new ice age and now innumerable books and reports on climate change have all been supported by groups wanting to do good who frequently knew nothing of the actual scientific or technical issues but took the opinion of experts. Over time this has demonstrated one of Richard Feynman's rules that the business of science is proving the experts wrong.

Australiadoes not escape the reach of this book. Neither Nevil Shute's On the Beach nor Helen Caldicott get a favourable review.

This is a thorough and excellent work that should be widely read and discussed.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. All

This is a review of Nuclear is for Life by Professor Wade Allison. It can be purchased online.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

17 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Tom Quirk is a director of Sementis Limited a privately owned biotechnology company. He has been Chairman of the Victorian Rail Track Corporation, Deputy Chairman of Victorian Energy Networks and Peptech Limited as well as a director of Biota Holdings Limited He worked in CRA Ltd setting up new businesses and also for James D. Wolfensohn in a New York based venture capital fund. He spent 15 years as an experimental research physicist, university lecturer and Oxford don.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Tom Quirk

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 17 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy