In a recent press release, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission claims to be expert on the subject of “junk science.” I believe it. How else could the CNSC claim there is “no risk” to health from elevated levels of radioactive materials in the environment when so many major scientific bodies say the opposite? The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) have all stressed that existing scientific evidence reveals no safe level of radiation exposure.
The CNSC knows perfectly well that atomic workers around the world have been shown to suffer from excess cancer and leukemia as a result of radiation exposures on the job. Moreover, Canadian atomic workers have shown a much higher excess of radiation-caused leukemias than atomic workers in other countries, possibly because of their exceptionally high exposure to tritium.
I have yet to see the CNSC publically correct any of the fallacious claims made routinely by the Canadian nuclear industry, yet here it is criticizing a public interest organization for daring to say that deliberate releases of radioactive carcinogens like tritium into public drinking water supplies should be stopped. In its latest press release, the CNSC has revealed itself as a defender of the industry’s right to pollute rather than as a champion of the public’s right to a hygienic environment.
– Gordon Edwards, Ph.D., President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. www.ccnr.org.
