Many people think that radiation is extremely dangerous. Helen Caldicott, a long-time anti-nuclear activist, claims that “a single mutation in a single gene can be fatal,” meaning it could cause a fatal cancer (1). She is a physician and she ought to know better. Plutonium is frequently stated as the most dangerous element on earth. Helen Caldicott also says: “Plutonium is so carcinogenic that the half ton of plutonium released from the Chernobyl meltdown is theoretically enough to kill everyone on earth with lung cancer 1,100 times if it were to be distributed uniformly in the lung of every human being” (1). This is sort of like saying that a man theoretically has enough sperm to impregnate every woman on earth. The big problem is distribution! Nobody actually died from plutonium released in the Chernobyl accident, and a man cannot impregnate all the women in the world!

These kinds of hypothetical scare-mongering statements get a lot of press, but they are far removed from the reality of the risks of radiation. But what are the actual risks?