DOCTORS FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS NEWSLETTER

In a 1999 letter, Cresson Kearny explained some important changes that have occurred since the end of the Cold War. Nuclear terrorism, which was not even addressed in the 1970s, has apparently become more likely than an all-out ballistic missile attack. Medical help might then be available, enabling individuals to withstand somewhat higher doses of radiation; the Kearny Fallout Meter instructions assumed there would be no antibiotics or other medical assistance. Additionally, Kearny notes that hormesis was not even mentioned in the book NWSS lest the government decline to purchase it and use it to instruct civil defense professionals.

Evidence for the beneficial effects of low-dose radiation was presented by Dr. Bobby Scott of Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque (www.radiation-scott.org). Hormetic effects may be utilized both in treating and in preventing cancer and other diseases. Several mechanisms may be involved, including the scavenging of reactive oxygen species and other toxins, and a protective apoptosis mechanism that selectively removes aberrant cells. The protective dose range extends from 1 mGy (0.1 rad) to 100 mGy (10 rads). Scott calculates a protection factor (PROFAC) of 0.15 (15% of spontaneous cancers prevented) in Chernobyl accident recovery workers and 0.86 (86% of cancers prevented) in workers at the Mayak plutonium facility workers (Scott, Di Palma, Dose Response 2006).

Although the federal government is not pursuing the development of drugs to treat acute radiation sickness at present, according to Robert Housman, there are possibly ways to increase radiation resistance. In his book Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins, Dr. Thomas Levy summarizes evidence that pretreatment with vitamin C can increase the maximum tolerated dose of radiation, or even reverse some effects if given post exposure. Vitamin E and beta carotene may also be protective. Irradiated mice have significantly decreased levels of vitamin C in their bone marrow.

I-CUBED ATTACKS

The British were fairly well informed about the death of Alexander Litvinenko from Po-210 in his tea; there was little panic (NY Times 8/1/07).

NUCLEAR PANIC-MONGERING CONTINUES

On July 17, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Japan, killing 9, injuring 1,000, flattening hundreds of buildings, and leaving thousands homeless. While some news stories covered the death and destruction caused by the earthquake itself, no fewer than five stories in the New York Times mentioned the radiation leak from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear generating station. Some barrels tipped over, spilling 315 gallons of water containing one billionth of Japan's legal limits of contamination. Later, with much media fanfare, the estimate was revised upward by 50%. The press complained of a delay of several hours in reporting the “leak.” There was also a fire in a transformer, just like those at electrical substations. No damage was done to the reactors (The Energy Advocate, August 2007). All this “raised new concerns about the safety of the nation's accident-plagued nuclear industry” (NY Times 7/21/07). Though damage was relatively minor, the world's largest plant in terms of power output has been shut down indefinitely.

Nature's reporting was not much better: “No one died as a result of Japan's latest nuclear incident and environmental damage seems to have been mostly avoided. But is this a testimony to successful plant design or a warning of impending disaster....[?] (Nature 2007;448:392-393). Like the Times, Nature does not give the amount of escaped radiation –only the fact of an initial 50% underestimate–though it does quote a University of Tokyo nuclear engineer's opinion that the leak was “negligible,” and say that the amount was “well within international safety limits.” New guidelines will require a lookback of 130,000 years rather than the previous 50,000 to determine activity of a fault line. International observers termed handling of the incident a disaster–“a public relations disaster.”

With 55 operating reactors, Japan has the third largest nuclear generating capacity in the world. It derives 30% of its electricity from nuclear power, and hopes to expand to 40% by 2017.

RUSSIA BUILDING FLOATING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Last year, the Kremlin jump-started Russia's nuclear industry, announcing a $60 billion program to build 42 land-based reactors, more than doubling the 31 now operating. In the far north, Russia is also reviving a 1970s idea from Westinghouse: shipboard reactors with 76-megawatt capacity. The vessels are meant to provide electricity to remote areas. They can be modified to desalinate sea water. At $360 million each, the plants will require 10 years to break even. More than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have expressed interest. The Russians plan to tow the ship into place, then take it back to Severodvinsk every 12 years to offload spent fuel and waste. As the Russians would own and operate the vessels, there would be no transfer of nuclear technology (WSJ 8/21/07).

Vladimir Chuprov, head of the Greenpeace nuclear energy team in Russia, warns that the ships could be targeted by terrorists and serve as a source of material for dirty bombs. He cites 117 “incidents” in seagoing nuclear vessels over the past 50 years.

According to a promotional video accessible through onlinenwsj.com, the design is based on models with a history of 7,000 reactor-years of accident-free operation on ships. It notes that energy is the critical life support and backbone for development in the far north.

DDP, 1601 N. Tucson Blvd. Suite 9, Tucson, AZ 85716, (520)325-2680, www.oism.org/ddp