Contribution to the study of ionizing radiation ecological risks

The amount of artificial irradiation delivered to man and the contribution due to medical applications are determined. The running of nuclear power stations is then analyzed, with special reference to problems concerning the reliability of different types of reactor, and an attempt made to implicate the irradiation attributed to nuclear industry as a whole and the effects produced on the environment. Lastly the effects of these ionizing radiations at low doses is examined. In the artificial radioactivity to which man is subjected (122 millirems a year) the contribution of X-rays is 103 millirems a year as against 3 millirems a year for nuclear industry, though it should be remembered that the majority of medical irradiation is the lot of a minority. According to the C.R.E.D.O.C., 75% of the radiological consumption is due to 20% of the population. These values lie below the M.A.D. values determined by the I.C.R.P. Irradiation from nuclear industry is still slight, but some reserves are expressed. No account is taken of the increasing build-up of certain very long-lived radioelements (plutonium 25000 years). Measurements provided on the contamination of the environment are inaccurate. Imprecision of the measurement methods and lack of knowledge of the concentration factor lead to neglect of this type of internal contamination through the food chain in spite of its apparent importance. For low-dose effects the arguments put forward are contradictory, optimistic on one side and pessimistic on the other. The proofs supplied by aggressive opponents of the improper use of ionizing radiations are disturbing: carcinogenesis, genetic damage etc.