Posts
What follows is the continuation, in serial form, of a central chapter from my book A Primer in the Art of Deception: The Cult of Nuclearists, Uranium Weapons and Fraudulent Science.
SCAM NUMBER EIGHTEEN: Base estimates of health risks from chronic exposure to internal emitters upon instances of acute flashes of external exposure.
This scam is the centerpiece for much of the current mischief perpetrated by the radiation protection agencies. It is the practical implementation of the falsehoods rehearsed in Exhibits A, B and C. It is grounded upon the dubious premise, which has gained ascendancy in the discipline of health physics, that all types of health detriment from all types of radiation exposure is simply related to the total amount of energy absorbed. No distinction is made between energy delivered to the body externally by photons and energy delivered internally by alpha and beta particles, despite the fact that these can create completely different spatial and temporal patterns of molecular damage to cells and organs. In the case of external irradiation, the total amount of energy deposited in the body is conceptualized as being uniformly distributed, or “averaged,” over the target mass, be it the whole body or a particular organ. How risky this dose is for inducing cancer can then be estimated by consulting a handful of studies of acute external irradiation, the most prominent being the corrupted Hiroshima Life Span Study. The identical method, without question as to its legitimacy, is used for instances of internal contamination. First, the total energy emitted by embedded hot particles is calculated. This quantity is treated as if it were uniformly distributed throughout the target organ, even though in many circumstances this is certainly not the case. The likelihood of illness is then predicted according to the studies of external radiation. What is important to note is that the risk factors, the probability of cancer incidence, for the different types of exposure are derived from the same source: the corrupted Hiroshima study and the handful of other studies of external exposure. By this method, the radiation protection agencies pitch to the world their central, unverified hypothesis: that the biological response of chronic low-dose exposure to internal emitters incorporated in the body from nuclear pollution in the environment in no way differs from that produced by an instantaneous flash of gamma irradiation at one moment in time. By the logic of this schema, the data from the highly politicized Life Span Study insinuates itself into forecasts about the health consequences of chronic, internal, low-dose exposure from such situations as Chernobyl, living downwind from a nuclear installation, and inhaling weaponized uranium. Exhibit F will bear witness that this methodology produces risk factors that repeatedly underestimate the number of radiation-induced illnesses inflicted on the innocent and unsuspecting throughout the world.
