The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering eliminating the "Linear No-Threshold" (LNT) basis of radiation protection and replacing it with the "radiation hormesis" theory which suggests that low doses of radioactivity is good for people.
The NRC have set a deadline of 19 November for people to comment on the proposed change which would see protective measures and public safety warnings being deemed unnecessary, and clean up measures reduced.
Dr. T. D. Luckey, a biochemistry professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, authored the book 'Hormesis and Ionizing Radiation and Radiation Hormesis' and numerous articles where he has said:
"We need more, not less, exposure to ionizing radiation..."
Radioactivity "activates the immune system...the trillions of dollars estimated for worldwide nuclear waste management can be reduced to billions to provide safe, low-dose irradiation to improve our health."
However Michael Mariotte, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service's (NIRS) president, opposes the theory by saying that "If implemented, the hormesis model would result in needless death and misery...if anything, the NRC radiation standards need to be strengthened."
Three petitions have been submitted to the NRC which have been criticised by Dr. Ian Fairlie, a European expert on radioactivity, as not meriting "serious consideration" and appearing to be based on "preconceptions or even ideology, rather than the scientific evidence which points in the opposite direction."
