Another Natural Product That's Good for You - Radiation

Back in the salad days of the 1980s, the Federal government's small wind turbine test site was located at Rocky Flats, Colorado just south of Boulder. As it so happened, this also used to be a big nuclear weapons plant run by Rockwell International. Just the corner of the huge largely deserted (to the eye) site allowed wind turbines.

Because of the bomb plant we used to joke about how those of us still anticipating having kids might want to wear a lead jockstrap before going on the property. Later we found out that wasn't as big a joke as we'd thought because that the plant had spewed out plutonium as the result of a fire. Well, accidents do happen.

Rocky Flats Plutonium Map - GISC (Cal-Berkeley)
"Disaster at Rocky Flats" from Killing Our Own (1982)

"But plutonium can catch fire spontaneously in air. In the evening of September 11, 1957, some of the "skulls" on the glove box line of Room 180 in Building 771 ignited. The fire was found by two plant production men shortly after 10:00 P.M.

The area was designed to be fireproof. But it was soon a radioactive inferno. Firemen switched on ventilating fans, but that backfired, spreading flames to still more plutonium. They then sprayed carbon dioxide into the area. That also failed. Meanwhile the filters designed to trap plutonium escaping up the stacks caught fire. The shift captain and other observers reported a billowing black cloud pouring some 80 to 160 feet into the air above the 150-foot-high stack of Building 771."

But all's well that ends well, right?

Los Alamos scientists write in Physics Today about enabling largest superfund cleanup to date - Los Alamos National Laboratory

"Rocky Flats is now a wildlife refuge scheduled to partially open in 2007, and expected to be in full operation in 2012. The refuge will have hiking trails, interpretive signs, and limited hunting."

One of the latest ways of explaining away concerns about radiation exposures is to focus on:

1. It's natural!
2. It's good for you!

The first one notes how background radiation levels vary by location. As it turns out, one area rich in hot springs in Iran has the current record for highest level of background radiation. Here's a webpage on the topic called "High Background Radiation Areas of Ramsar, Iran"

The second item has to do with a concept called hormesis. This is where the effects of some exposure are not strictly proportional to the degree of exposure. In some instances, the proponents of concept say that small doses of otherwise bad stuff, like radiation, can actually be good for you.

Another Natural Product That's Good for You - Radiation

Back in the salad days of the 1980s, the Federal government's small wind turbine test site was located at Rocky Flats, Colorado just south of Boulder. As it so happened, this also used to be a big nuclear weapons plant run by Rockwell International. Just the corner of the huge largely deserted (to the eye) site allowed wind turbines.

Because of the bomb plant we used to joke about how those of us still anticipating having kids might want to wear a lead jockstrap before going on the property. Later we found out that wasn't as big a joke as we'd thought because that the plant had spewed out plutonium as the result of a fire. Well, accidents do happen.

Rocky Flats Plutonium Map - GISC (Cal-Berkeley)
"Disaster at Rocky Flats" from Killing Our Own (1982)

"But plutonium can catch fire spontaneously in air. In the evening of September 11, 1957, some of the "skulls" on the glove box line of Room 180 in Building 771 ignited. The fire was found by two plant production men shortly after 10:00 P.M.

The area was designed to be fireproof. But it was soon a radioactive inferno. Firemen switched on ventilating fans, but that backfired, spreading flames to still more plutonium. They then sprayed carbon dioxide into the area. That also failed. Meanwhile the filters designed to trap plutonium escaping up the stacks caught fire. The shift captain and other observers reported a billowing black cloud pouring some 80 to 160 feet into the air above the 150-foot-high stack of Building 771."

But all's well that ends well, right?

Los Alamos scientists write in Physics Today about enabling largest superfund cleanup to date - Los Alamos National Laboratory

"Rocky Flats is now a wildlife refuge scheduled to partially open in 2007, and expected to be in full operation in 2012. The refuge will have hiking trails, interpretive signs, and limited hunting."

One of the latest ways of explaining away concerns about radiation exposures is to focus on:

1. It's natural!
2. It's good for you!

The first one notes how background radiation levels vary by location. As it turns out, one area rich in hot springs in Iran has the current record for highest level of background radiation. Here's a webpage on the topic called "High Background Radiation Areas of Ramsar, Iran"

The second item has to do with a concept called hormesis. This is where the effects of some exposure are not strictly proportional to the degree of exposure. In some instances, the proponents of concept say that small doses of otherwise bad stuff, like radiation, can actually be good for you.