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News :: Health |
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New Report: Over 50 Million Deaths From Radiation Exposure |
Current rating: 0 |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
07 Feb 2003
Modified: 07:12:44 PM |
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A new report by the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) estimates that more than 50 million deaths will eventually be attributed to radiation expossure from man-made sources, primarily atmospheric ncuelar tests, up to 1989. |
A new report by the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) estimates that more than 50 million deaths will eventually be attributed to radiation expossure from man-made sources, primarily atmospheric nuclear tests and accidental raditioon releases, up to 1989.
The report is significant for its rejection of traditional standard models of radiation exposure risk. Asserting that the dominant International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) model is unethical, the ECRR concluded, "that the ICRP justifications are based on outmoded philosophical reasoning, specifically the averaging cost-benefit calculations of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism has long been discarded as a foundation for ethical justification of practice owing to its inability to distinguish between just and unjust societies and conditions. It may, for example, be used to underpin a slave society, since it is only the overall benefit which is calculated, and not individual benefit."
The report went on to state, "the [ECRR] addresses the basis in scientific philosophy of the ICRP risk model as applied to such risks and concludes that ICRP models have not arisen out of accepted scientific method." This criticism is in regard to the close association of government/military interests with the nuclear industry, which established the ICRP risk model, and who it now appears have consistently underestimated the dangers of radiation by a ratio of 50 to 1.
The report is dedicated to Alice Stewart, one of the original researchers to establish the dangers of low-dose exposures to radiation and who was the first Chair of the ECRR. She died before the report could be completed, but it is a fitting tribute to her life's work.
Links to further info on the report:
HTML executive summary:
http://www.euradcom.org/2003/execsumm.htm
PDF executive summary:
http://www.euradcom.org/2003/presserr3.pdf
Mainpage for report:
http://www.euradcom.org/2003/ecrr2003.htm |
