1 Millioninth Gram of Inhaled Plutonium Will Give You Cancer

If you want an average for the entire USA; how else would you define it?

Evidently, the above poster failed elementary school arithmetic and doesn't understand how to compute "averages".

Once again, this typical IGNORANCE and STUPIDITY of the anti-nukes is demonstrated again for all to see and disparage.

Collaborationnistes

The lovely and erudite constitutional attorney Ann Coulter and others have openly championed hormesis. A (very) few PhDs, journalists, politicians and nuclear power industry advocates in Japan and the USA have made similar public statements. Most, understandably prefer anonymity. Their assertion is less than irresponsible, it is dangerous. These advocates, In My Humble Opinion (IMHO), join the sullied ranks of Vichy French collaborationnistes or pétainists.

The United States National Research Council and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) argue that there is no evidence for hormesis in humans and in the case of the National Research Council, that hormesis is outright rejected as a possibility. Therefore, the Linear no-threshold model (LNT) continues to be the model generally used by regulatory agencies for human radiation exposure. The watchword of the day is ALARA, As Low As Reasonably Achievable.

A few infamous Collaborationniste (pétainists): http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/FRANCE/French_Trials.html

War Crimes Proceedings, Collaboration Trials and Similar Proceedings Involving France in World War II

BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY Written and Compiled by David Thompson for the Grace Dangberg Foundation, Inc., copyright 1999-2002

Algarron or Algaron, Andre -- French editor in chief of the collaborationist newspaper Petit Parisien; director, radio station "Radio-Patrie" {put on trial by a French court of justice for collaboration and "intelligence with the enemy"; convicted and sentenced to death 27 Nov 1946 (NYT 28 Nov 1946:11:1); sentence commuted by French President Vincent Auriol to life imprisonment at hard labor 10 Apr 1947 (NYT 11 Apr 1947:18:5).}

Auphan, Louis -- French editor, collaborationist periodical L'Action Française {arrested and put on trial by a French court at Lyons for writings "attacking the domestic security of the state"; convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment at hard labor 15 Nov 1945 (NYT 16 Nov 1945:4:3).}

Besson, Marcel -- French editor, collaborationist periodical Petit Dauphinois (Grenoble) {arrested on collaboration charges c. 5 Sept 1944 by French partisans (NYT 6 Sept 1944:3:4); subsequent disposition unknown.}

Brassilach, Robert (1909-1945) -- French journalist, novelist, historian and editor of the collaborationist periodical Je Suis Partout {arrest on collaboration charges announced by French government 15 Oct 1944 (NYT 16 Oct 1944:5:7); put on trial by a French court at Paris for collaboration; convicted and sentenced to death 19 Jan 1945 (NYT 20 Jan 1945:4:5); executed by firing squad at Fort de Montrouge, Paris 6 Feb 1945 (NYT 7 Feb 1945:7:6). (Purge pps. 137-40; Historical Encyclopedia of WWII p. 61).}

Courtine or Jullien-Courtine, Robert (?-1998) – member of the French Popular Party (Parti Populaire Français – PPF), collaborationist radio broadcaster {fled Paris 14 Aug 1944; arrested 9 Jan 1946 at Merano; put on trial by a French court for collaboration; convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at hard labor 12 Dec 1946; sentence reduced in 1948 by French President Vincent Auriol; released; editor in chief of the "Cuisine and Wines of France" ("Cuisine et Vins de France"); died 1998 (Hilberg, La destruction des Juifs d'Europe, 1988; S.K.Kitson@bham.ac.uk)

Cousteau, Pierre Antoine -- French editor and owner of collaborationist weekly Je Suis Partout {arrested by French authorities and put on trial by a French court of justice for collaboration and "intelligence with the enemy"; convicted and sentenced to death, national degradation (dégradation nationale) and confiscation of property 23 Nov 1946 (NYT 24 Nov 1946:27:6); sentence commuted 10 Apr 1947 by French President Vincent Auriol to life imprisonment at hard labor (NYT 11 Apr 1947:18:5); release rumored as a result of French President Vincent Auriol's Bastille Day amnesty 2 Aug 1953 (NYT 3 Aug 1953:5:2); released 1955; died 1958 (Purge pps. 140-1; S.K.Kitson@bham.ac.uk).}

Taittinger, Pierre -- French newspaper editor; President of the Paris Municipal Council; leader of French pre-war fascist youth organization {arrested Aug 1944 (Purge pps. 78-9); prohibited from holding public office by the French Honor Court at Paris 10 Jan 1946 (NYT 11 Jan 1946:6:6).}

Tardieu, Charles -- French reporter, Le Matin (Paris) and Grand Echo du Nord {arrested and put on trial by a French court (at Lille?) for collaboration; convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment at forced labor 1944 (NYT 16 Dec 1944:5:2).}

Zuccarelli, Georges -- French editor in chief of the collaborationist periodical Nouveaux Temps {arrested and put on trial by a French purge court on charges of collusion with the enemy; convicted and sentenced 23 Jan 1945 to 10 years imprisonment (NYT 23 Jan 1945:6:4).}

pétainists

Contrary to the contentions of that LOOK Helen Caldicott who claims that a single kilogram of plutonium will poison the entire planet and kill all life on Earth; the amount of plutonium that is actually in the environment and that you ingest a fraction of each day; is about 3.5 metric tonnes.

How much of your radiation exposure does that account for? Courtesy of the Health Physics Society at the University of Michigan:

http://www.umich.edu/~radinfo/introduction/radrus.htm

the radioactivity from nuclear weapons tests, labeled "fallout" in the above; accounts for LESS THAN 0.03% of your background exposure.

So Caldicott says 1 kilogram will kill everything. There's over 3,500 times that amount of plutonium actually in the environment; but even that gives you <0.03% of the radiation you are normally exposed to.

So Mother Nature is exposing you to 3,000 times the amount of radiation exposure as comes from the years of atmospheric nuclear testing; which in itself is 3,500 times what Caldicott claims will kill all life on the planet.

Caldicott and the anti-nukes have been EXAGGERATING the dangers of radiation and plutonium by factors of MILLIONS, to BILLIONS, or MORE.

1 microgram of PU-239 is 2360 Bq which is a 46 micron diameter sphere which is 2518 Trillion atoms of PU-239.

To cause cancer you must cause just the right kind of damage to a cell without killing it. Dead cells don't turn cancerous.

http://www.alpharubicon.com/basicnbc/article16radiological71.htm
The range of a 5.8 MeV alpha particle in water is 50 microns. So every cell from the surface of the Pu-239 sphere out to 50 microns is going to be killed pretty much instantly by the alphas. The cells outside of that range are shielded from the alphas and don't receive any dose from them.

Pu-239 also undergoes spontaneous fission and the fission daughter products emit betas and gammas. The dose from those particles will fall off as radius squared from the Pu-239 sphere. There should be a sweet spot at some distance where there is enough dose to maximize the chance that a cell will turn cancerous without so much that you kill the cell.

Interestingly enough if you dissolve that amount of Pu-239 and evenly disperse it throughout the body then you would deposit.

5.8MeV * 2360 * 60 * 60 * 24 *365 = 43e9 MeV/year = 0.0068 Joules/year

Assume a 100kg person and include the factor of 20 because alphas are more damaging and you get 1.3 mSv/year.

The same amount of Plutonium is more dangerous when it's clumped together into "hot particles" than when it's dispersed as a gas.

Bottom line. While I may eat mildly cesium contaminated sushi with aplomb if you tell me there's plutonium "fuel fleas" in the air I will run screaming for the hills.