ALERT! NRC may RULE RADIATION EXPOSURE IS HEALTHFUL! | Linear No-Threshold Model and Standards for Protection Against Radiation

ALERT! NRC may RULE RADIATION EXPOSURE IS HEALTHFUL! ... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may decide that exposure to ionizing radiation is beneficial – the radiation from nuclear bombs, nuclear power plants, depleted uranium, x-rays, and Fukushima. It has opened a proceeding to consider adopting this “radiation is good for you” model.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received three petitions for rulemaking (PRM) requesting that the NRC amend its “Standards for Protection Against Radiation” regulations and change the basis of those regulations from the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) model of radiation protection to the radiation hormesis model. The radiation hormesis model provides that exposure of the human body to low levels of ionizing radiation is beneficial and protects the human body against deleterious effects of high levels of radiation. Whereas, the LNT model provides that radiation is always considered harmful, there is no safety threshold, and biological damage caused by ionizing radiation (essentially the cancer risk) is directly proportional to the amount of radiation exposure to the human body (response linearity).

This would be the most significant and alarming change to U.S. federal policy on nuclear radiation.

Here is the Federal Register notice --
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/06/23/2015-15441/linear-no-threshold-model-and-standards-for-protection-against-radiation

Comments are due by September 8, 2015.
Is this a joke? NO!

P.S. this ALERT was first emailed by MaryBeth Brangan through Heal Fukushima (http://healfukushima.org/…/alert-nrc-may-rule-radiation-ex…/). And as per Jane Swanson, Mother's for Peace: "The easiest way for people to comment is by email:

•Email comments to: Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you do not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact us at 301-415-1677.
• Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0057 in the subject line of your comment submission.

The three petitioners who started this effort to lower protective standards are all in the health fields. They claim that there is no valid evidence that low doses are harmful, and find that compliance with current limits is expensive for their professions. Radiation phobia is their favorite new term. Here is a sample of their reasoning:

"Dr. Doss filed this petition on behalf of Scientist for Accurate Radiation Information, whose mission is to “help prevent unnecessary, radiation-phobia-related deaths, morbidity, and injuries associated with distrust of radio-medical diagnostics/therapies and from nuclear/radiological emergencies through countering phobia-promoting misinformation spread by alarmists via the news and other media including journal publications.”

A Proposed Rule by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 06/23/2015
This document has a comment period that ends in 26 days (09/08/2015)

Federal Register | Linear No-Threshold Model and Standards for Protection Against Radiation

thanks to Laura Lynch!