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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   31815 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026

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Summary of content in link:

  • The linear no-threshold model of radiation is not an accurate model of biology, as cells have DNA repair mechanisms; thus dose profile is as relevant as total dose. Long-term exposures adding up to high totals show little-to-no additional cancer risk if less than one millisievert is received per day. (There were over 2,000 'radium girls'; about 100 of them developed cancers, all of whom were exposed to >1mSv/d, and most of whom received >20mSv/d.)
  • More has been spent than is prudent on reducing very small daily radiation exposures.
  • The requirement that no opportunity be forgone to reduce radiation exposure, even if from 0.0004 millisievert/day to 0.000395 millisievert/day, combined with the structure of nuclear regulations (e. g., requiring a half-built plant, fully compliant with regulations at beginning of construction, to be torn out and restarted to comply with new standards), has driven up the cost of nuclear energy, and made the cost of building nuclear reactors unpredictable.

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