Democracy Now, 4/26/11

Start at 10:32, End at 35:20

Last paragraphs of statement by PSR on the anniversary of Chernobyl

…While the risk of low dose exposure may be very low for a given individual, when large numbers of people are exposed, there are health consequences.  If one person receives 1 rem of exposure, he or she has a one in one thousand chance of getting cancer.  If a thousand people are exposed, one of them will get cancer.  If a million people are exposed, one thousand of them will get cancer.  While the dose of radiation in a glass of drinking water may be so low that any one person does not need to take specific protective measures, the cumulative impact on the whole community may be very significant.

“We cannot be asked to protect the public after the fact,” said Ira Helfand, MD, a member of the Board of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “The health system cannot respond adequately to a large scale disaster on the order of Fukushima. The risks to public health, the economy and our environment from nuclear power far outweigh the benefits.”