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ECRR EUROPEAN
COMMITTEE OF RADIATION RISK COMITE
EUROPEEN SUR LE RISQUE DE L'IRRADIATION PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT:
EMBARGO 23:50 WED 29th Jan 2003 ·
NEW SOURCE OF ADVICE ON RADIATION RISK ·
MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR NUCLEAR POLICY ·
DRAWS ATTENTION TO DANGERS FROM USE
OF DEPLETED URANIUM OR OTHER MILITARY DISPERSION OF RADIOACTIVITY The
report ECRR2003 Recommendations of the European Committee
on Radiation Risk: the Health Effects of Ionising Radiation Exposure at
low doses for Radiation Protection Purposes, Regulators' Edition will
be launched at the Press Centre of the European Parliament in Brussels
at 10.30 on 30th January. Presenting the new rational risk model developed
over the last 5-years by a group of over 30 independent scientists and
other experts will be the group's Scientific Secretary Dr Chris Busby
together with Professor Alexey Yablokov, member of the Russian Academy
of Sciences, Moscow and radiation physics expert Professor Inge Schmitze
Feuerhake of the University of Bremen, who both assisted in the preparation
of the report. The ECRR was formed in 1998 in Brussels following concerns
that the risk models for ionising radiation employed as a basis for policy
had entirely failed to predict or explain massive evidence of ill health
in populations exposed to internal radioactivity from weapons fallout,
licensed discharges and accidents, and military use of Depleted Uranium.
Dr Busby, who is a member of the UK government radiation risk committee
CERRIE and also the Ministry of Defence Depleted Uranium Oversight Board
said ' The ECRR committee has provided a completely new appraisal of the
historic and future risk from nuclear pollution and also the ethical basis
on which the nuclear project has been based.' Professor Yablokov, who
was an advisor on the environment to Presidents Yeltsin and Gorbachev
said, 'At last a rational system of radiation risk modelling has been
developed which predicts and explains all the observations, from leukemia
clusters near nuclear sites to the terrible effects of the Chernobyl disaster
in the contaminated regions of Belarus and the Ukraine.' As
an example, the risk model presented in the new report is employed to
calculate the overall human death toll of all nuclear pollution exposures
showing that over 50 million people will die or have died as a result
of the radioactive releases up to 1989. Dr Busby commented, ' The model
shows clearly that the human race cannot afford to allow contamination
of the environment with these radioactive materials. The politicians must
realise that if the military are allowed to use Depleted Uranium or tactical
nuclear weapons in any future war, there will be terrible consequences
for soldiers and civilians both in the area of use and, as Chernobyl has
taught, much further away. Further information (a PDF file, 313Kb available from 23.50 Weds.
29 January) Contacts: European Parliament Brussels: Dr Caroline Lucas MEP +32 (0) 2284 7153
ECRR: Scientific Secretary, Dr Chris Busby +44 (0)1970 639315 ECRR
2003 ISBN 1-897761-24-4; 186 pp, 44 Tables, 6 illus, 550 refs is published
in the UK on behalf of the ECRR by Green Audit Press and available on
order from all booksellers or by email from admin@euradcom.org;
4-page Summary available on request or from www.euradcom.org from
23.50 Weds. 29 January
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