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Radiation doses of Hiroshima survivors confirmed
London, July 31: New research into the level of radiation that Hiroshima survivors were exposed to has confirmed that the figures used to calculate cancer risks from radiation are correct, scientists said on Wednesday.
London, July 31: New research into the level of radiation that Hiroshima survivors were exposed to has confirmed that the figures used to calculate cancer risks from radiation are correct, scientists said on Wednesday.
A week before the 58th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the publication of the research should ease fears about whether the survivors' radiation doses may have been underestimated.
Most estimates of cancer risk and safe levels of exposure to radiation sources ranging from nuclear plants to X-rays are based on data from survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki so it is vital that the doses of exposure are correct.
"These findings provide, for the first time, clear measurement validation of the neutron doses to survivors in Hiroshima," Tore Trasume, of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City who headed the research team, said in a report in the science journal 'Nature'.
Survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 were exposed to two types of radiation -- gamma rays and neutrons.
"The risks are pretty much what we thought they were," Mark Little, of Imperial College London who commentated on the research, said in an interview.
Scientists extrapolate from the data to determine how safe radiation is at low doses. Cancer risk is estimated by correlating the incidence of cancer in groups of survivors with the dose they received.
"So if you don't know the dose, or if it is uncertain, that feeds into uncertainties on the risk estimates," Little said.
Most estimates of cancer risk and safe levels of exposure to radiation sources ranging from nuclear plants to X-rays are based on data from survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki so it is vital that the doses of exposure are correct.
"These findings provide, for the first time, clear measurement validation of the neutron doses to survivors in Hiroshima," Tore Trasume, of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City who headed the research team, said in a report in the science journal 'Nature'.
Survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 were exposed to two types of radiation -- gamma rays and neutrons.
"The risks are pretty much what we thought they were," Mark Little, of Imperial College London who commentated on the research, said in an interview.
Scientists extrapolate from the data to determine how safe radiation is at low doses. Cancer risk is estimated by correlating the incidence of cancer in groups of survivors with the dose they received.
"So if you don't know the dose, or if it is uncertain, that feeds into uncertainties on the risk estimates," Little said.
"It as safe as we thought it was," he added. Bureau Report