On June 26 2015, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) stated it was seeking public comments by September 8, on petitions stating that the Linear No Threshold theory of radiation’s effects was not a valid basis for setting radiation standards and that the hormesis model should be used instead. Several US readers have written asking … [Continue Reading]

In 2013, I discussed several epidemiological studies providing good evidence of radiogenic risks at very low exposure levels. A powerful new study (1) has been published in Lancet Haematology which adds to this evidence. However the study’s findings are more important than the previous studies, for several reasons. First, it provides “strong evidence”, as stated … [Continue Reading]

Recently, interesting and lively correspondence on the merits and demerits of nuclear power has taken place between Dr Becky Martin, a geneticist formerly at Oxford University and Baroness Worthington, the Labour Party’s energy spokesperson in the House of Lords. Dr Martin’s initial letter can be found at http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2790138/dear_bryony_dont_dump_your_nuclear_waste_on_us.html Bryony Worthington’s response can be found at … [Continue Reading]

Recent news stories are suggesting that TEPCO is considering evaporating the 280,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water held in the 1,500 tanks at Fukushima. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/08/us-japan-fukushima-water-idUSKBN0MZ0WC20150408  and http://rt.com/news/248041-fukushima-waters-evaporate-tepco/ Disposing large volumes of highly tritiated water is a serious problem for TEPCO but its evaporation proposal is quite dangerous. It is based on several misconceptions. First, … [Continue Reading]

Attached is a useful table showing life-cycle CO2 arisings for different forms of electricity production. Comparative lifecycle estimates for sources of electricity

As readers will know, the UK Government has been making strenuous efforts to support nuclear power developments. However, as shown in the table below as of April 2015, many governments, banks, utilities and energy companies across the world continue to withdraw from nuclear projects. Over 25 withdrawals/closures are listed, and these are just the more … [Continue Reading]

In March 2014, my article on increased rates of childhood leukemias near nuclear power plants (NPPs) was published in the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (JENR). A previous post discussed the making of the article and its high readership: this post describes its content in layman’s terms. Before we start, some background is necessary to grasp … [Continue Reading]

About two weeks ago, I received an unsolicited email from Elsevier, the international science publishers, about my recent article in the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (JENR) on increased rates of childhood leukemias near nuclear power plants (NPPs). It informed me that my article had been downloaded 482 times since its publication in March 2014. For … [Continue Reading]

In 2013, the British Journal of Cancer published an article (Bithell et al, 2013) (for references see below) purporting to show there were no leukemia increases in young children near UK nuclear power plants (NPPs). I published a post criticising this article stating that it should not have been published. The BJC has now printed … [Continue Reading]

On April 2, UNSCEAR published its long-awaited Report on Fukushima. Of prime importance are its estimates  of collective doses to the Japanese population. Page 60 of Annex A of the UNSCEAR report contains the following table 8 on estimated collective effective doses and collective absorbed doses to the thyroid for the population of Japan (approximately … [Continue Reading]