Mohan Doss, medical physicist, SARI, XLNT, SRI: 1. Exposure to a high dose of (ionizing) radiation over a short time, i.e., at high dose rates, as occurred to the atomic bomb survivors closest to ground zero, increases the risk of cancer. This information is irrelevant to estimating the cancer risk from the exposure to low doses and low dose rates of radiation. 2. A radiation dose under 100 mGy received over a short time (seconds or hours) is completely safe. This exposure corresponds to 10 typical CT scans and will not contribute to the risk of cancer. A radiation dose of 1000 mGy, delivered within a few minutes, i.e., a high dose rate, may, however, contribute to increasing that risk. In the case of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the residents of Fukushima should not have been evacuated. 5. We challenge the recommendations of advisory bodies, such as the ICRP and NCRP, that call for maintaining radiation doses as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), which they base on the present LNT paradigm they have adopted.
