Atomic Insights

Atomic energy technology, politics, and perceptions from a nuclear energy insider who served as a US nuclear submarine engineer officer

Radiation: The Facts

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I highly recommend a terrific brochure titled “Radiation: The Facts”.

Opening eyes to the facts about radiation

Opening Eyes to the Facts

The document concentrates accurate information about radiation into a a tri-fold that can be read and understood in just a few minutes. It is a valuable presentation handout, would be a useful addition to the material offered in doctor’s offices, and should be a part of any classroom discussion about radiation.

Robert Hargraves, who has lived a life of achievement including writing a well received book titled Thorium: Energy Cheaper than Coal, founding a business, serving as Chief Information Officer for Boston Scientific, serving as an assistant professor and associate director of the computation center at Dartmouth College, publishing numerous peer-reviewed articles on a variety of topics and earning a PhD in Physics from Brown University, researched and produced “Radiation: The Facts” as a “labor of love”.

Hargraves tapped a deep pool of expertise by requesting reviews and comments from his extensive contact list that includes radiation biologists, health physics professionals, and nuclear engineers. Though space on a brochure is obviously limited, Robert has provided the references supporting the statements on the brochure on his web site and given creative commons license for others to republish his work.

Please, take the time to read and understand the brochure. Then do whatever you can to spread the word and get the information in front of as many people as possible. To endorse Robert’s work, feel free to add a comment, especially if you can include a summary of your own experience and credentials.

For more information about radiation and Radiation: The Facts, please visit http://radiation-safety-limits.info.

Atomic Show #197 – Radium, educational museums and Voices for Vermont Yankee

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On Sunday, February 24, I gathered a group of fission fans to talk about a number of nuclear energy related topics. We discussed Romance of Radium and how perceptions about radiation have been molded over the 76 years since it was produced. Then, people had learned enough about the benefits of using power emitted from atomic nuclei so that the only powerfully radioactive material was valued at $750,000 per ounce, and had also learned enough about time, distance, shielding and consumption avoidance to have essentially eliminated accidental radiation related injury.

We also talked about the importance of sharing accurate nuclear science and technology related material with as many people as possible. We discussed an interesting model situation in the UK where the Sellafield installation is taking over a financially struggling, but popular tourist museum named The Beacon so that it can help people better understand the benefits of a complicated technology.

Guests on this episode of The Atomic Show include:
Meredith Angwin, who publishes Yes Vermont Yankee and who recently released Voices for Vermont Yankee on Kindle.
Steve Aplin, who publishes Canadian Energy Issues which focuses on the energy situation in Ontario. (Steve confessed that his day job employer is in the fossil fuel industry, but we don’t hold that against him. He knows the importance of energy density and ultra low emissions.)
Gwyneth Cravens, author of Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy and one of the stars of the Sundance sensation titled Pandora’s Promise. (Gwyneth talked a little about some of the opportunities she has had recently to talk to some very deep-pocketed people in Mountain View, CA who are intensely interested in using nuclear energy to save the world.
Will Davis, who publishes the authoritative Atomic Power Review and who frequently contributes to ANS Nuclear Cafe and Fuel Cycle Week.
Andrea Jennetta, who publishes Fuel Cycle Week and I Dig U Mining

I hope you enjoy the conversation. Please provide your commentary; we are always interested in learning more about how to better communicate what I believe is the most important message available – nuclear energy really does have the power to change the world and make it a cleaner, more prosperous, more energetic place.

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Becoming a nuclear nut case

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One of my favorite aspects of hosting a topically focused site like Atomic Insights is attracting active participation from people with varied backgrounds who join together to discuss their shared energy interests. I hope you delve into the comment threads; they are often more informative than the initial post that starts the conversation. A few […]

Dr. Kiyohiko Sakamoto – Low Dose Radiation Used as Cancer Treatment

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Dr. Kiyohiko Sakamoto was one of the presenters at the American Nuclear Society 2012 Annual Meeting President’s Special Session on Low Level Radiation and Its Implications For Fukushima Recovery. The session organizers thought that his work on using whole body and half body radiation treatments to cure cancer and prevent recurrence was important enough to […]

Does radiation really cause cancer? Conversation among professionals

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One of the privileges of being a long time pronuclear activist on the Internet – an activity that I have been enjoying since “atomicrod” started posting in USENET discussion groups in the early 1990s – is that I often see communications between talented, highly qualified professionals that include information that is not well distributed in […]

Radiation cures cancer

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Nuclear medicine is a topic that I have not covered in much detail here on Atomic Insights, mainly because my formal medical training is limited to first aid learned as a lifeguard and as a first responder on damage control teams in the Navy. However, several commenters have asked me to increase the nuclear medicine […]