Dear ChristinaMac,

How wonderful of you to take an interest in my posting. I do wish you a most happy Christmas and a New Year which witnesses further growth and good fortune to all in the Nuclear Industry. I will say this however, your web site is not lacking in aesthetic appeal.

When many people assume the same phobia it begins to take on the features of mass hysteria. As for the president elect Obama my understanding is that he was trained was as lawyer, and clearly not on in scientific or technical discipline. True he pays lips service to science provided it serves his political ambition – hence his uncritical acceptance of the anthropogenic green house theory.

Incidentally in my email this morning there was the abstract of a paper to be published in Heath Physics in Jan 2009.

A population study of Kerala, India with high background radiation due to monazite sand. Levels about 4mGy/y. Solid cancer incidence in 69,968 residents amounting to 736,586 person years was not increased as a consequence of high terrestrial radiation. Leukaemia incidence also appeared to be unrelated to background radiation- however; the authors state that the leukaemia data lacks statistical power.

Atom 1 - Seasons greetings! You may not realise it, but there is a world shortage with interruption of supplies of Mo-99.
The Mo-99/Tc-99m generator is important for medical diagnosis. Further there are several other reactor produced isotopes that are used in medical treatment. Until our own reactor (OPAL) returns to radio-isotope production Australia is dependent on South Africa for supplies. The recent shut down of the Maple reactor in Canada caused chaos in many US hospitals. So you should have no difficulty in appreciating the importance of the Lucas Heights reactor to Australian patients.