Hello everyone this week we have a very interesting blog. I had a friend ask me about a friend of hers that had two daughters that both had cancer. One passed away and the other had an unbelievable invasive surgery at a young age. The question my friend asked of me was if this family lived near a power plant could it be causing these health issues and cancer. We did a little research and this is who we found to answer. You might be surprised to hear what the answer is…
From Guest Blogger, Leslie the author of The Hiroshima Syndrome
“The radiation released from nuclear power plants is miniscule, compared to what the typical American receives from mother nature. In fact, no nuclear power plant in America has ever released enough radioactive material to hurt anyone, and that includes the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. With the exception of the TMI accident, American nuclear plants have produced an average of less than one millirem exposure per year to the people living next door to them. This is entirely due to the extreme air and water cleanup systems built into every plant. These systems were required by the government before the phenomena of radiation hormesis was discovered, thus the resulting levels of release are more than 100,000 times less than what could ever harm anyone.
Radiation hormesis demonstrates that the biological effects of low level radiation exposures below about 100 Rem are beneficial, and not in the least hazardous. In fact, the average American could triple their natural background dose (~0.33 Rem per year) without risk, and considerably improve immune system function, as well as nearly a dozen other health improvements. The additional millirem of radiation a person might get from a nuclear power plant each year causes no harm, and probably improves health a very tiny amount. The chances of contracting cancer of any type from an additional exposure of 1 millirem per year is zero.”
Leslie has a Bachelors degree in Nuclear Technology and Environmental Sciences, a Masters degree in Philosophy. He spent his first 21 years as (in order) a nuclear power plant operator, environmental monitoring technician, design engineer, public relations spokesperson, and public education coordinator.