Why are people so afraid of radiation?
I have been reading this forum since the begining and I have seen the fear here. It has caused me to question: Why we are so afraid of radiation?
In life we take many risks every day in almost everything we do. When we drive a car or fly on a plane there is risk. When we eat there is risk from pesticides, cancer causing agents like aflitoxin, ecoli and food poisoning, etc. etc. etc. Many people are obese, smoke or have a sedentary lifestyle. These are all material risks. In many cases we don't care to know about the risk or we don't even pay attention to it. Radiation is different. It really scares many people.
What is different about radiation than all of the other risks? Why does it scare people so much?
deadly humans, loving mothers
Deadly forces that do the most damage are most often dealt by human beings.
At a congressional hearing Hyman George Rickover testified that:
"I do not believe that nuclear power is worth it if it creates radiation. Then you might ask me why do I have nuclear powered ships. That is a necessary evil. I would sink them all. I am not proud of the part I played in it. I did it because it was necessary for the safety of this country. That's why I am such a great exponent of stopping this whole nonsense of war. Unfortunately limits — attempts to limit war have always failed. The lesson of history is when a war starts every nation will ultimately use whatever weapon it has available." Further remarking: "Every time you produce radiation, you produce something that has a certain half-life, in some cases for billions of years. I think the human race is going to wreck itself, and it is important that we get control of this horrible force and try to eliminate it." (Economics of Defense Policy: Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, 97th Cong., 2nd sess., Pt. 1 (1982))
and
As quoted by President Jimmy Carter during his 1984 interview with Diane Sawyer:[33]
"One of the most remarkable things that he ever told me was when we were together on the submarine and he said that he wished that a nuclear explosive had never been evolved. And then he said, 'I wish that nuclear power had never been discovered.' And I said, 'Admiral, this is your life.' He said, 'I would forego all the accomplishments of my life, and I would be willing to forego all the advantages of nuclear power to propel ships, for medical research and for every other purpose of generating electric power, if we could have avoided the evolution of atomic explosives.'"[34]
What do YOU think ?