Radiation Not As Hazardous As Once Believed

HeavensBlade23 sends in an article from the German site Spiegel Online about mounting evidence that nuclear radiation may not be as deadly as has been widely believed. The article cites studies by German, US, and Japanese researchers concluding, for example, that fewer than 800 deaths are attributable to the after-effects of radiation in over 86,500 survivors of the Hiroshima bombing. Other surprisingly low death rates are reported in studies of Chernobyl and of a secret Siberian town called Mayak, devoted to producing plutonium, that was abandoned after a nuclear accident in 1957.

In Soviet Russia...

[kcbanner]

In Soviet Russian, radiation...wait.

astroturfing at its worst

[MrAndrews]

Apparently this is just an attempt by a Utah company to increase holiday sales [pttbt.ca]. Sigh.

This article brought to you ....

[IgnoramusMaximus]

courtesy of Burns' Atomic Power! "We light you up!" is our motto!

Smithers, pay the good Scientists for their efforts!

Ehhhh...

[TOI_0x00]

and the offspring of the survivors just happend to be looking a little bit funky....

Sources?

[7-Vodka]

If I were paranoid I would investigate whether this coincidentally has anything to do with the resurging nuclear industry in the US.

But this is slashdot so i'll never rtfa.

Let's try it!

[Alexx K]

I've just exposed myself to 15000 REMS of radiation. It looks like these guys were right. I just feel a bit warm an

Old news

[stuntpope]

Ra-di-a-tion. Yes, indeed. You hear the most outrageous lies about it. Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everybody it's bad for you. Pernicious nonsense. Everybody could stand a hundred chest X-rays a year. They ought to have them, too.

Yeah! The extra arms

[Anonymous Coward]

will come in ...handy!

Re:Hiroshima

[isa-kuruption]

Sounds exactly like the global warming theory... wipe away the data that questions the theory, discredit scientists who bring up the data, and claim your Nobel prize!

Re:But what about sterility?

[scottv67]

I am also bold since I was around 25.

Just thinking out-loud here: Have you tried </b>?

Re:Let's try it!

[RuBLed]

Well it looks like radiation is bad for keyboards...

Miracle Max sez:

[Zarf]

Miracle Max voice:

It's only mostly deadly... mostly deadly means partially harmless!

Re:Statistics don't bear this out

[MarsDefenseMinister]

It couldn't have possibly been due to eating only one potato a week for years, working 20 hours a day on a collective farm, drinking wine made from radiator fluid and vodka made from brake fluid. So it must have been the radiation.

Re:But what about sterility?

[hobo sapiens]

He's right. It happened to my father when he was a boy.

I am SO telling the truth.

What?!

Re:Let's try it!

[sxltrex]

King Arthur: What does it say, Brother Maynard?
Brother Maynard: It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Alexx K of Aramathia. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaauuuggghhh..."
King Arthur: What?
Brother Maynard: "The Castle of Aaaauuuggghhhh"
Sir Bedevere: What is that?
Brother Maynard: He must have died while carving it.
King Arthur: Oh come on!
Brother Maynard: Well, that's what it says.
King Arthur: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to carve 'Aaaauuuggghhhh'. He'd just say it.
Sir Galahad: Maybe he was dictating it.
King Arthur: Oh shut up!

The real story...

[nilbog]

"Those people didn't die from radiation! They died of exposure when their skin fell off!"

Re:In Soviet Russia...

[Erris]

How about:

radiation protects you.
YOU shield the reactor.
radiation shields you.
you contaminate plutonium.

And so on and so forth in the callous manner of the article [slashdot.org]. It's not funny.

It's not that bad

[Cryacin]

Unless you mind that third tentacle growing out of your abdomen.

Re:It's not that bad

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait, wait ... unless you mind that third tentacle growing out of your abdomen?

sweet!

[commodoresloat]

That makes the rate at which I kill off brain cells with booze and weed seem pretty tame by comparison.... I'd say this calls for a celebration! Care to join me in a belt of scotch?

Re:It's not that bad

[dovydasm]

And I thought, two tentacles growing out of my abdomen is as bad as it gets...

Re:It's not that bad

[BiggerIsBetter]

Unless you mind that third tentacle growing out of your abdomen.

My animated Japanese girlfriend seems to like it.

Re:In Soviet Russia...

[Ann1ka]

This reply is modded as 5, Informative?
In Soviet Russia underperforming modders are relocated up north.

--
be gentle

Re:That would be VERY useful.

[delinear]

Imagine being able to [...] open your [...] zipper [...] without repositioning the hands away from the home row keys.

There. Fixed that for you.

Re:safely stored for 30,000 years...

[jc42]

Anything that's going to be seriously radioactive for 30,000 years is going to be an alpha emitter. Whose highly dangerous particles need massive shielding between you and the source, like that provided by, say, a piece of paper.

Yeah, but haven't you heard - paper is obsolete. It's all been replaced by computer displays (and "electronic paper"). If the alpha particles start whamming into those, before long you have lots of dead pixels. And we can't have that, now can we?

If we have to re-establish paper plants (which are highly polluting), it'll be a huge expense. And think of the trees!

How YOU doin?

[Scrameustache]

To have a tentacle or two, particularly forward facing and prehensile would be an excellent optional add on to the current human model.

The ladies do compliment me on my forward facing tentacle :-)