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We should stop running away from radiation

bbc.co.uk

31–40 of 130 posts

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#31

How about all those people dying from cancer years later all over Russia and Central Europe? Radiation does not kill instantly, it causes cancer, which kills years later. Stop spreading such nonsense articles, please! Just because the immediate impact is comparatively low, that doesn't mean it's harmless.

Precisely. Saying that Chernobyl killed only 43 people is kind of like saying Hitler didn't really kill that many Jews.

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#32
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention that they covered up the Chernobyl accident for I can't remember how many days before even bothering to tell the locals that they're in danger. In the nineties, families in the country around where I grew up, here in Ireland, hosted children from Chernobyl every summer, so that they could breath clean air and eat clean food. I've also seen documentaries about birth defects in the years after the accide…

A good friend's wife spent a good bit of time in Belarus recently (well, 2006-2007), primarily assisting children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears. Really amazing what's still going on over there, to this day. The incident at Chernobyl might have occurred in the Ukraine, but it was not the most affected. Sad, even if I am a h…

... children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears.

You can go to hospitals anywhere in the world and hear exactly the same stories. Kids get cancer. It sucks, but it's a fact of life. Is there any evidence that these cancers were caused by Chernobyl?

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#33
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good friend's wife spent a good bit of time in Belarus recently (well, 2006-2007), primarily assisting children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears. Really amazing what's still going on over there, to this day. The incident at Chernobyl might have occurred in the Ukraine, but it was not the most affected. Sad, even if I am a h…

... children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears. You can go to hospitals anywhere in the world and hear exactly the same stories. Kids get cancer. It sucks, but it's a fact of life. Is there any evidence that these cancers were caused by Chernobyl?

Sadly, very much so. A massive portion of the radiation went into Belarus, and they're still dealing with the results to this day, although things are finally dropping. I asked the same question, and she showed me a bunch of good evidence, although I have none on hand. Wish I did, rather than just telling a story.

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#34

How about all those people dying from cancer years later all over Russia and Central Europe? Radiation does not kill instantly, it causes cancer, which kills years later. Stop spreading such nonsense articles, please! Just because the immediate impact is comparatively low, that doesn't mean it's harmless.

Radiation does not kill instantly, it causes cancer, which kills years later.

Radiation is a carcinogen, yes. But it turns out that radiation is a really puny carcinogen. A radiation dosage which will probably kill you if delivered rapidly -- 4 Sieverts -- has only a small chance of causing cancer -- about 10% (and an even lower chance of causing lethal cancer).

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#35
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good friend's wife spent a good bit of time in Belarus recently (well, 2006-2007), primarily assisting children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears. Really amazing what's still going on over there, to this day. The incident at Chernobyl might have occurred in the Ukraine, but it was not the most affected. Sad, even if I am a h…

... children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears. You can go to hospitals anywhere in the world and hear exactly the same stories. Kids get cancer. It sucks, but it's a fact of life. Is there any evidence that these cancers were caused by Chernobyl?

Yes.

- Between 1970 and 2001 thyroid cancer incidence rates in Belarus increased from 0.4 per 100 000 to 3.5 per 100 000 among males (+775%) and from 0.8 per 100 000 to 16.2 per 100 000 among females (+1925%).

- The relative increases in areas with ‘higher exposure’ from the Chernobyl disaster exceeded those in ‘lower exposure’ areas with marked increases in thyroid cancer incidence rate ratios among both genders and in all age groups.

- The largest increases were observed among people from ‘higher exposure’ areas ages 0-14 yr at time of diagnosis, suggesting that a high prevalence of pre-existing iodine deficiency, in combination with unique susceptibility among younger people, might have contributed to potential carcinogenic exposures to the thyroid.

- The magnitude of increases observed is remarkable given the relatively limited time interval since Chernobyl ...

From: http://www.ceecis.org/iodine/04a_consequences/05_nuclear/Che...

[Edit: formatting]

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#36
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case, he gives sources for all his data. And while he does mix up timescales, he's really not far off. It can be better, but it's not bad .

In that case, what were you referring to when posting the chart: Fukushima or Chernobyl? If Chernobyl, the article mentions only a small number of fatalities, but I've read in many places over the years that thousands of people (especially in Belarus, who got the worst of it) have since died from cancer and other radiation induced diseases. I've also seen documentaries about the many sick and deformed children that w…

Fukushima -- Chernobyl, I believe, was misrepresented there. However, it's misrepresented everywhere.

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#37
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good friend's wife spent a good bit of time in Belarus recently (well, 2006-2007), primarily assisting children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears. Really amazing what's still going on over there, to this day. The incident at Chernobyl might have occurred in the Ukraine, but it was not the most affected. Sad, even if I am a h…

... children still affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The stories she told of kids powering through cancer would reduce most men to tears. You can go to hospitals anywhere in the world and hear exactly the same stories. Kids get cancer. It sucks, but it's a fact of life. Is there any evidence that these cancers were caused by Chernobyl?

Its not just cancer. A lot of children there have been born with severe[1] birth defects since.

[1] For example, heres a documentary on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fCCVU4y7oE Note that I don't know how accurate this particular documentary is and I haven't watched it all, but I have seen others with similar content. WARNING: don't watch if you're not prepared to see severely deformed children. Its not very nice at all, really :(

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#38
post #6
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

governments control the courts; they exempt themselves from liability for things all the time. for instance: try suing the cops in the US because they didn't do enough to protect you.

Wrong, this happens all the time. For example, municipalities pay out all the time to the Westboro Baptist Church when local police are unable to defend them from the people they are intentionally enraging. (This is how WBC makes their money.)

That means that the WBC is the greatest troll of our time. They literally have nothing on 4chan.

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#39
Who is "we"? If the the author speaks for himself, I have no objection against him moving to Fukushima or buying a house close to another nuclear power plant. I'm sure there are people willing to sell and the price for real estate in those areas has most likely dropped considerably in the last few decades.

Re: We should stop running away from radiation

#40

How about all those people dying from cancer years later all over Russia and Central Europe? Radiation does not kill instantly, it causes cancer, which kills years later. Stop spreading such nonsense articles, please! Just because the immediate impact is comparatively low, that doesn't mean it's harmless.

Radiation does not kill instantly, it causes cancer, which kills years later. Radiation is a carcinogen, yes. But it turns out that radiation is a really puny carcinogen. A radiation dosage which will probably kill you if delivered rapidly -- 4 Sieverts -- has only a small chance of causing cancer -- about 10% (and an even lower chance of causing lethal cancer).

Would you happen to have a source for this? I'm finding it hard to imagine how a study like this can even take place given that there have (probably) not been many survivors among those who have received a dose of 4 Sieverts.
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