[NukeNet] RADNET

[MJ]

Check out this website - lots of info.  Molly

http://www.davistownmuseum.org/cbm/Rad16.html#context
SECTION 1: General Introduction

RADNET is an on-line encyclopedia of nuclear information and information
sources. The purpose of RADNET is the documentation of the dispersion of
anthropogenic radionuclides into the biosphere. "Anthropogenic
radionuclides" specifically refers to radioactive contamination of the
biosphere by human activities, with special reference to weapons
production and commercial nuclear electricity production that result in
the accumulation and dispersion of long-lived radionuclides. 

This Website uses the indicator radionuclides131I, 137Cs and 239Pu to
document radioactive contamination of the biosphere from anthropogenic
source points. While RADNET focuses on contamination resulting from the
nuclear fuel cycle in both weapons and nuclear electricity production, it
also references exposure from nuclear medicine, x-rays and commercial
products in the context of exposure to naturally occurring radiation (NOR)
from radon and cosmogenic and terrestrial sources. Additional information
on these topics and on the health physics impact of exposure to ionizing
radiation is available via the electronic links in RADNET Section 13: Part
2-C or through the many references listed within RADNET, especially in
Section 14: General Bibliography. With reference to the health physics
impact of ionizing radiation, please see the caveat below. 

RADNET has two premises. The first premise is that not only have a number
of nuclear accidents occurred (each nuclear weapons test explosion is a
documentable nuclear accident), but that these accidents (Chernobyl, the
sum total of weapons testing explosions, commercial nuclear power source
points, fuel reprocessing source points etc.) are nuclear accidents in
progress (uncontained dispersion of anthropogenic radioactivity) or
nuclear accidents waiting to happen (contained anthropogenic radioactivity
with the potential for dispersion into the biosphere). The citizens of the
20th century have bequeathed to those in the 3rd millennium the presence
and proliferation of thousands of significant anthropogenic radiation
source points. 

The second premise of RADNET is that any credible evaluation of the
biological effects of the spread of anthropogenic radioactivity in the
biosphere in the second half of the twentieth century must be based on
nuclide-specific, media-specific pathway analyses.  The lack of accurate
biological monitoring data about long-lived radionuclides in specific
ecosystems is the Achilles heel of contemporary radiation dosimetry and
its concomitant attempt to estimate the delayed somatic effects (genetic,
teratogenic, carcinogenic) of anthropogenic radioactivity. RADNET is an
attempt to collate as much of this data as is available in one easy-to-use
reference guide available electronically or for downloading in hard copy.
Without accurate data about specific isotopes in specific pathways, the
dosimetry of total effective dose equivalents is an unpersuasive academic
exercise. The editors of RADNET hope that the information within this
Internet site can be used by laypersons seeking a frame of reference for
interpreting the quantitative presence and the health physics impact of
those nuclear effluents which also have significant quality-of-life
implications. 
  

CAVEAT
RADNET is an information resource about source points and quantities of
anthropogenic radioactivity in the biosphere. It is not a resource about
the health effects of ionizing radiation from anthropogenic sources or
from natural sources. Hundreds of thousands of studies in books now
document the public health effects from ionizing radiation from all
sources. For further information on this subject, please refer to Section
2: A Guide to RADNET (see health physics questions), as well as to RADNET
Section 13: Part 2-C: Health Physics Links.
 


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."
Bush, June 18, 2002 

"War is Peace"
Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984

Molly Johnson 
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA  93451
Cell: 805 296-0524

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