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Radiation Not As Hazardous As Once Believed

Posted by kdawson on from the since-my-fallout-with-you dept.

HeavensBlade23 sends in an article from the German site Spiegel Online about mounting evidence that nuclear radiation may not be as deadly as has been widely believed. The article cites studies by German, US, and Japanese researchers concluding, for example, that fewer than 800 deaths are attributable to the after-effects of radiation in over 86,500 survivors of the Hiroshima bombing. Other surprisingly low death rates are reported in studies of Chernobyl and of a secret Siberian town called Mayak, devoted to producing plutonium, that was abandoned after a nuclear accident in 1957.

14 of 570 comments (clear)

  1. astroturfing at its worst by MrAndrews · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently this is just an attempt by a Utah company to increase holiday sales. Sigh.

    --
    The world's only surviving livewriter.
  2. This article brought to you .... by IgnoramusMaximus · · Score: 5, Funny

    courtesy of Burns' Atomic Power! "We light you up!" is our motto!

    Smithers, pay the good Scientists for their efforts!

  3. Ehhhh... by TOI_0x00 · · Score: 3, Funny

    and the offspring of the survivors just happend to be looking a little bit funky....

  4. Let's try it! by Alexx+K · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've just exposed myself to 15000 REMS of radiation. It looks like these guys were right. I just feel a bit warm an

    --
    Don't mind the extra X. Alex
    1. Re:Let's try it! by RuBLed · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well it looks like radiation is bad for keyboards...

    2. Re:Let's try it! by sxltrex · · Score: 4, Funny

      King Arthur: What does it say, Brother Maynard?
      Brother Maynard: It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Alexx K of Aramathia. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaauuuggghhh..."
      King Arthur: What?
      Brother Maynard: "The Castle of Aaaauuuggghhhh"
      Sir Bedevere: What is that?
      Brother Maynard: He must have died while carving it.
      King Arthur: Oh come on!
      Brother Maynard: Well, that's what it says.
      King Arthur: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to carve 'Aaaauuuggghhhh'. He'd just say it.
      Sir Galahad: Maybe he was dictating it.
      King Arthur: Oh shut up!

  5. Re:But what about sterility? by scottv67 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am also bold since I was around 25.

    Just thinking out-loud here: Have you tried </b>?

  6. Miracle Max sez: by Zarf · · Score: 5, Funny
    Miracle Max voice:

    It's only mostly deadly... mostly deadly means partially harmless!

    --
    [signature]
  7. Re:Statistics don't bear this out by MarsDefenseMinister · · Score: 3, Funny

    It couldn't have possibly been due to eating only one potato a week for years, working 20 hours a day on a collective farm, drinking wine made from radiator fluid and vodka made from brake fluid. So it must have been the radiation.

    --
    No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men.-Ronald Reagan
  8. The real story... by nilbog · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Those people didn't die from radiation! They died of exposure when their skin fell off!"

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    or else!
  9. Re:In Soviet Russia... by Erris · · Score: 4, Funny

    How about:

    radiation protects you.
    YOU shield the reactor.
    radiation shields you.
    you contaminate plutonium.

    And so on and so forth in the callous manner of the article. It's not funny.

    --
    DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
  10. It's not that bad by Cryacin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unless you mind that third tentacle growing out of your abdomen.

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    1. Re:It's not that bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wait, wait ... unless you mind that third tentacle growing out of your abdomen?

    2. Re:It's not that bad by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 4, Funny

      Unless you mind that third tentacle growing out of your abdomen. My animated Japanese girlfriend seems to like it.
      --
      Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.