How does the US Public Health Services feel about nuclear energy and waste?
Charles Miller, Ph.D., Chief, Radiation Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US Department of Health, told me that the US Department of Health does not have an opinion on a safe distance from a nuclear waste reprocessing plant, and told me that I could quote him as saying that he is not aware of a nuclear waste reprocessing plant that has ever successfully operated without hurting people in surrounding communities (March 21, 2007).
This conversation with Charles Miller was after I had spent 7 hours, on March 20, talking on the telephone with several different people working for the US Department of Health, the New Mexico Health Department, and the New Mexico Environment Department. I wanted to find out how far away from a nuclear waste reprocessing plant they believed would be a safe distance to live. During this 7 hour quest for an answer, most of employees of the US Department of Health immediately transferred me to someone else as soon as they heard the word "nuclear." But there were two more health and environmental government employees that took the time to listen to my question.
One anonymous employee of the New Mexico Environment Department said, "I can't put this in writing, but I would get as far away as I could!"
Another anonymous employee of the US Public Health Services Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR), who has worked there for many years, said, "I am a contractor, so my words are not necessarily those of the ATSDR, but I would get as far away as I could!"
Between March 21, 2007 and today (April 8, 2007), I have talked with more than a dozen government employees serving in health and environmental agencies who have completely understood why I am concerned about potentially being chosen to live in near the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership's nuclear waste reprocessing plant and nuclear burner reactor.
With the recent threats of terrorism, many people have expressed concern about the likelihood and effects of a nuclear blast. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed this fact sheet to describe what happens when a nuclear blast occurs, the possible health effects, and what you can do to protect yourself in this type of emergency.
A nuclear blast, produced by explosion of a nuclear bomb (sometimes called a nuclear detonation), involves the joining or splitting of atoms (called fusion and fission) to produce an intense pulse or wave of heat, light, air pressure, and radiation. The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of World War II produced nuclear blasts.
When a nuclear device is exploded, a large fireball is created. Everything inside of this fireball vaporizes, including soil and water, and is carried upwards. This creates the mushroom cloud that we associate with a nuclear blast, detonation, or explosion. Radioactive material from the nuclear device mixes with the vaporized material in the mushroom cloud. As this vaporized radioactive material cools, it becomes condensed and forms particles, such as dust. The condensed radioactive material then falls back to the earth; this is what is known as fallout. Because fallout is in the form of particles, it can be carried long distances on wind currents and end up miles from the site of the explosion. Fallout is radioactive and can cause contamination of anything on which it lands, including food and water supplies.
The effects on a person from a nuclear blast will depend on the size of the bomb and the distance the person is from the explosion. However, a nuclear blast would likely cause great destruction, death, and injury, and have a wide area of impact.
In a nuclear blast, injury or death may occur as a result of the blast itself or as a result of debris thrown from the blast. People may experience moderate to severe skin burns, depending on their distance from the blast site. Those who look directly at the blast could experience eye damage ranging from temporary blindness to severe burns on the retina. Individuals near the blast site would be exposed to high levels of radiation and could develop symptoms of radiation sickness (called acute radiation syndrome, or ARS). While severe burns would appear in minutes, other health effects might take days or weeks to appear. These effects range from mild, such as skin reddening, to severe effects such as cancer and death, depending on the amount of radiation absorbed by the body (the dose), the type of radiation, the route of exposure, and the length of time of the exposure.
People may experience two types of exposure from radioactive materials from a nuclear blast: external exposure and internal exposure. External exposure would occur when people were exposed to radiation outside of their bodies from the blast or its fallout. Internal exposure would occur when people ate food or breathed air that was contaminated with radioactive fallout. Both internal and external exposure from fallout could occur miles away from the blast site. Exposure to very large doses of external radiation may cause death within a few days or months. External exposure to lower doses of radiation and internal exposure from breathing or eating food contaminated with radioactive fallout may lead to an increased risk of developing cancer and other health effects.
In the event of a nuclear blast, a national emergency response plan would be activated and would include federal, state, and local agencies. Following are some steps recommended by the World Health Organization if a nuclear blast occurs:
If you are near the blast when it occurs:
If you are outside when the blast occurs:
If you are already in a shelter or basement:
If you are advised to evacuate:
The ?suitcase? bombs that have been described in new stories in recent years are small nuclear bombs. A suitcase bomb would produce a nuclear blast that is very destructive, but not as great as a nuclear weapon developed for strategic military purposes.
A nuclear blast is different than a dirty bomb. A dirty bomb, or radiological dispersion device, is a bomb that uses conventional explosives such as dynamite to spread radioactive materials in the form of powder or pellets. It does not involve the splitting of atoms to produce the tremendous force and destruction of a nuclear blast, but rather spreads smaller amounts radioactive material into the surrounding area. The main purpose of a dirty bomb is to frighten people and contaminate buildings or land with radioactive material.
While a serious event such as a plane crash into a nuclear power plant could result in a release of radioactive material into the air, a nuclear power plant would not explode like a nuclear weapon. There may be a radiation danger in the surrounding areas, depending on the type of incident, the amount of radiation released, and the current weather patterns. However, radiation would be monitored to determine the potential danger, and people in the local area would be evacuated or advised on how to protect themselves.
Local emergency management officials will tell people when to take KI. If a nuclear incident occurs, officials will have to find out which radioactive substances are present before recommending that people take KI. If radioactive iodine is not present, then taking KI will not protect people. If radioactive iodine is present, then taking KI will help protect a person's thyroid gland from the radioactive iodine. Taking KI will not protect people from other radioactive substances that may be present along with the radioactive iodine.
For more information about radiation and emergency response, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website at http://www.bt.cdc.gov or contact the following organizations:
I have searched far and wide for a web page published by the US Public Health Services, its Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and its Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and I have not found any of them implying that nuclear energy is safe and clean.