Paper

This is a draft of the package which will be sent to everybody living within 35 kilometers of each nuclear plant under Underwriter Certification. The package includes: 1) a cover letter, 2) a pamphlet with instructions for what to do in a release and an explanation of the compensation package, 3) a pamphlet explaining radiation for those who want to learn more about radiation damage and our bodies’ ability to repair that damage. Comments solicited.

This paper discusses some of the implications of the regulatory philosophy known as ALARA, As Low As Reasonably Achievable.

This piece contrasts comparing dose rate profiles which have similar reception patterns but different cumulative doses — something I have been guilty of — with comparing different dose rate patterns with the same total dose. The latter is the best way to shootdown LNT.

The single most important background radiation study is the Karunagappally cohort which compares cancer incidence in several very high dose rate villages on the Kerala coast with the cancer incidence in neighboring villages with normal background dose rates. In 2021, a major update to this study was published. Here’s a belated look at what this study and its update tells us about radiation harm.

The Sigmoid No Threshold (SNT) model of radiation harm is an important plank in the Gordian Knot Group platform. Since SNT recognizes our ability to repair radiation damage, it is necessarily more complicatedthan LNT. But unless SNT is understood by intelligent laymen such as Congress and their staffers,it will never be accepted. This paper attempts to explain how SNT works in a way that is accessible to everybody.

LNT cannot model both the harm we see when a large dose is received in a matter of hours or less, and the lack of detectable harm when the same or much larger doses are received over prolonged periods. The most glaring example of the latter is the radium dial painters.

An insightful 1982 paper tries to answer this question.

Why hasn’t industry pushed back?

The NRC and EPA have both formulated policy on how to handle a release of radioactive material from a nuclear power plant. The NRC urges rapid evacuation. The EPA argues for shelter in place combined with deliberate relocation. Both are wrong, but the EPA’s position is far more sensible.