I correspond regularly with advocates for various nuclear fission technologies; there are many disagreements about the best way forward. The advocates can get pretty passionate about what they believe to be the weaknesses of competing technologies. There are times when I need to step in to remind them that their competitive target should be the…
This is a Public Service Announcement. November 30 Film and Panel at the Gund Institute The Energy Education Project of the Ethan Allen Institute has two members of our Board of Advisors on the panel at an event sponsored by the Gund Institute at University of Vermont (UVM). The film and panel start at 4…
A frequent commenter on Atomic Insights is a very experienced nuclear professional who often keeps me on my toes by sharing thoughts that are fairly common in our community. I have recently been posting quite a number of blogs on the need to revise radiation protection standards to base them on a more accurate model…
By Ted Rockwell How are Permissible Radiation Limits Set? How Much is Science, How Much “Prudence”? U.S. Regulatory Report NCRP-136 examined the question of establishing permissible radiation limits. After looking at the data, it concluded that most people who get a small dose of nuclear radiation are not harmed by it, and in fact are…
Dr. Wade Allison, the author of Radiation and Reason, was interviewed following a recent visit to Japan. He has a rational recommendation for the international radiation protection community – instead of setting radiation dose limits based on keeping them as close to zero as possible, why not choose levels that are based on keeping the…
On November 12, 2011, USA Today published an article titled Media allowed in tsunami-hit nuke plant that contained some classic elements of slant by selectively highlighting certain facts while ignoring others. The situation was a good news story. Tepco, the electric power utility company that owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station has reached a…
I received a comment yesterday through the Atomic Insights Contact link telling me about a recently produced video titled After Fukushima: The Fear Factor. The source described the work as a report on the media frenzy in the UK following the tsunami attack on the Fukushima region of Japan. As the video describes, less than…
This is a guest post by Ted Rockwell. He wrote it in 1998, but the information and opinions remain valid today. The words between the lines below are Ted’s. Begin guest post FEAR OF RADIATION IS KILLING PEOPLE AND ENDANGERING THE PLANET TOO Theodore Rockwell MPR Associates, Inc., U.S.A. ABSTRACT We are permitting tens of…
Though there is still a lot of work to do in completely stabilizing the situation at Fukushima Daiichi, and that effort is not made any easier by the strong aftershocks that continue to occur, it is not too early to begin thinking about ways to assist in the long term effort to ensure public safety….
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the difference between detectable radiation or contamination and dangerous levels of the same two widely discussed phenomena. Aside: Many people remain confused about the difference between radiation and contamination. If you will forgive an old sailor for some blunt language, here is how one of my early…
My friends who are naval aviators have a saying that seems appropriate here – “tis easier to seek forgiveness than to ask permission.” For the past couple of days, I have been trying to ask permission to publish the below speech text, but have been unable to make contact with the originator. I will keep…
There are times when a discussion turns from somewhat painful to entertaining theater. This conversation between George Monbiot and Helen Caldicott, featured on the March 31, 2011 edition of Democracy Now! entered that realm. Update: (Posted at 0500 on April 1, 2011) After some overnight thought, I realized that I needed to add some more…