The USA would never cover up information related to radiation, would it?

[MelissaB]

Six years ago my mother died of a very aggressive brain cancer (GBM) in her early 50's. One of the things that causes this kind of brain cancer is exposure to radiation. While she was in the hospital in our small town she was next to a man who was diagnosed with the same aggressive of brain cancer. I talked to his family as we were both struggling to figure out what to do. One morning the man's wife brought me the study linked below. I discovered that we lived in a "cancer belt" and even the insurance agents called it that. As time went on we heard stories about people traveling to Birmingham, Al for cancer treatment and the doctors/staff there saying something to the effect of... "Let me guess. You're from the Shoals area." Is that proof of anything? No, but read the article linked below.

I can't count the family members we've lost to cancer or who have cancer currently.

Despite clamor, fallout study still unreleased

By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — A government study estimating that about 15,000 Americans died from cancer as a result of Cold War nuclear fallout has been withheld from the public for nearly a year. The $1.85 million study, which occupied several top-notch scientists for two years, has been sitting in administrative limbo since early last summer while a host of local health officials, citizens groups and researchers have been clamoring to see it. "The process seems aimed at slowing down information release and minimizing the consequences," says Bob Schaeffer of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of local and national citizens groups.

"This study can help identify people at risk, and that could save lives if those people can get screening or early treatment for some of these cancers," says Schaeffer.

Portions of the still-unreleased study were obtained by USA TODAY. It was prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute. Its release has been delayed for "internal reviews" at the Department of Health and Human Services, which controls the two research institutions. Officials say the scramble to deal with terrorism-related duties in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks also has held up the study's release.

That has done little to assuage those waiting to see it, including members of Congress.

"Some federal government bureaucrat has been holding onto this information for the past months and years," says Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who was instrumental in launching the study in 1998. "No more stalling. We need to fully assess the threats posed by the radioactive (fallout)."

More here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/02/28/usat-nuke-sidebar.htm

Also, make sure you look at the map where the fallout settled.

Another article here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/02/28/usat-nuke-sidebar.htm

[CountAllVotes]

1. my late mother died the same way

And she too had worked at a place where they had huge levels of contamination. The doctors would not admit anything whatsoever.

She was dead 3 mos. after the DX of cancer that had spread to her brain. :cry:

:kick:

[MelissaB]

3. I'm so sorry for your loss.

My mother was diagnosed in Jan. and gone in June. It was a fast...

[CountAllVotes]

6. thank you

It has been almost 10 years now but I still have the awful grief. It was so fast I didn't know what to do much less think.

I found the contamination incident in her files btw. She had been exposed along with 2 other women. Of the two others, one was left permanently disabled and the other one died.

It was such a heavy contamination that it took the paint off of her car which was repainted by her lovely employer. :argh:

:cry:

:kick:

[MelissaB]

2. Another important snip:

The study's delay is straining the already tense relationship between the agencies responsible for producing the study and the groups and public officials waiting to see it. And the resulting distrust could have a significant bearing on the debate over what the government should do in response to the study's findings.

Why? Would the be responsible for our health care since they caused much of the problem?

[Marblehead]

4. costs a lot less

to deny

[prairierose]

5. To answer your original question....

they would only cover up/lie about radiation information every single chance they get. The only times a radiation "problem" is brought to light is if the problem is so big that they can not cover it up and people actually notice there is something wrong. Then they say that, "Yes, there is a problem but no one should worry. There will be only a small release and it is perfectly safe."

The govt has been minimizing the effects of radiation and nuclear power from the very beginning. The growing number of deaths does not seem to mean anything to them.

[felix_numinous]

9. K&R Reposting

time lapse of every nuclear explosion since 1945, if you missed it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x564427

[MelissaB]

11. Thanks! I did miss that.

:(

[MelissaB]

7. Could someone post the map here?

I'm having trouble bringing it up on this computer.

[99th_Monkey]

14. Me too. ;-( ~nt

[Helga Scow Stern]

18. Me too!

[felix_numinous]

24. Here is a more direct link

http://www.ctbto.org/specials/1945-1998-by-isao-hashimoto ~~if you are still interested.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Maybe you should ask the downwinders?

[SidDithers]

10. If you think you're being lied to, it's not hard to check radiation levels yourself...

http://www.fishersci.com/ecomm/servlet/fsproductdetail?storeId=10652&productId=4841495&catalogId=29104&matchedCatNo=191501144&endecaSearchQuery=%23store%3DScientific%23N%3D0%23rpp%3D15&fromSearch=1&searchKey=geiger&highlightProductsItemsFlag=Y

While the source of the radiation might be something that's being hidden from you, the presence (or lack) of radiation can't be hidden.

Sid

[MelissaB]

12. I'd love to have one of those things, but they're so darn expensive.

I wonder if universities have them and would lend them out.

[SidDithers]

13. Similar ones can be rented...

not sure what rates are like, but check air monitoring equipment rental.

Or, personal dosimeter badges aren't too expensive. :hi:

Sid

[Eddie Haskell]

15. TMI

Thyroid cancer rates around Three Mile Island are the highest in the nation. 11 of the highest 18 counties in the USA are located within 90 miles of Lancaster County, PA. This for an accident which the NRC still claims caused no deaths. Don't believe a word they say.

[EOTE]

16. This peer reviewed study seems to suggest otherwise.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18300710

[Eddie Haskell]

20. Other studies suggest otherwise

Take a look at a map of thyroid cancer rates in PA and compare it to the location of the nuclear plants. I don't need no damn studies to read a map. The first question the Dr. asked my wife was, "Were you here during TMI?"

Dauphin County is almost entirely NW of TMI. The prevailing winds are NW. The closest city, Harrisburg, has a poor and transient population. Many thyroid cancer cases went undiagnosed because of these factors. Did your study make the effort to follow those who were here during the accident?

[EOTE]

21. Any other peer reviewed studies?

You know, the ones that actual scientists review? Or is your scientific expertise enough?

[EOTE]

23. It sure is a good thing that your anecdote is superior to years of rigorous scientific research.

Why the heck do we pay those scientists so much when simple anecdotes are easily as sufficient.

[Helga Scow Stern]

17. Amory Lovins claims 170,000 died in the US from Chernobyl fallout.

"Nuclear-promoting regulators inspire even less confidence. The International Atomic Energy Agency's 2005 estimate of about 4,000 Chernobyl deaths contrasts with a rigorous 2009 review of 5,000 mainly Slavic-language scientific papers the IAEA overlooked. It found deaths approaching a million through 2004, nearly 170,000 of them in North America. The total toll now exceeds a million, plus a half-trillion dollars' economic damage. The fallout reached four continents, just as the jet stream could swiftly carry Fukushima fallout."
I think this is from the CommonDreams website.

[Helga Scow Stern]

19. My husband died from GBM in 1999. Not sure if radiation caused it.

That's why I'd like to take a look at that map.

Also, here in Santa Fe, people have died from thyroid cancer and leukemia from being downwind from nuclear tests.

[kickysnana]

22. I have a friend who's father designed switches for "the bomb".

There was an accident. He survived but his body was severely damaged. When he finally died in a Vets hospital 25 years later an autopsy was done without the family's permission. The funeral home director, a family friend said he had never seen so much removed from a body during autopsy. They left his face and took almost everything else.

He had signed a non-disclosure agreement but left an account for his four sons in a safe deposit box including a diary of his health problems.

America has an evil side, no doubt about it.