Radiophobia

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Radiophobia is an abnormal fear of ionizing radiation, also used in the sense of fear of X-rays. The term is also used (polemically, not medically) to general opposition to the use of nuclear energy.

Fear of ionizing radiation is not unnatural, since it can pose significant risks; however this fear may become abnormal and even irrational, often owing to poor information or understanding, but also as a consequence of traumatic experience.

[edit] Radiophobia and Chernobyl

In the former Soviet Union many patients with radioactive sickness after the Chernobyl disaster were accused of radiophobia. The term "radiation phobia syndrome" was introduced in 1987 by L. A. Ilyin and O. A. Pavlovsky in their report "Radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union and measures taken to mitigate their impact,"^[1] which praised Soviet measures to mitigate the effects of Chernobyl disaster. ^[2]

The author of Chernobyl Poems^[3] wrote in her poem, Radiophobia:

Is this only - a fear of radiation?

Perhaps rather - a fear of wars?

Perhaps - the dread of betrayal,

Cowardice, stupidity, lawlessness?

Full text of this poem see here: ^[4] The video with this poem in Russian here: ^[5]

Also Michel Fernex in the article "The Chernobyl Catastrophe and Health" ^[6] has explained why the World Health Organization (WHO) remained absent during the first five after the Chernobyl accident on health studies and in particular studies on the genome and why this Organization still remains so inefficient in this field by the fact that it is still blocked by an "Agreement" signed in 1959 with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

[edit] Radiophobia as a term in the atomic energy debate

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Today the term "radiophobia" is polemically applied to the arguments of proponents of the LNT concept (Linear no-threshold response model for ionizing radiation) of radiation security proposed by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) in 1949. The "no-threshold" position effectively assumes that even negligible doses of radiation may pose danger. The issue remains controversial.

[edit] References

1. ^ L. A. Ilyin and O. A. Pavlovsky,"Radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union and measures taken to mitigate their impact" IAEA Bulletin 4/1987.
2. ^ Bella Belbéoch, RESPONSABILITES OCCIDENTALES DANS LES CONSEQUENCES SANITAIRES DE LA CATASTROPHE DE TCHERNOBYL, EN BIELORUSSIE, UKRAINE ET RUSSIE, in: Radioprotection et Droit nucléaire [eds.: Ivo Rens and, Joël Jakubec, collection SEBES, 1998, pp. 247-261 (English translation: "Western responsibility regarding the health consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe in Belarus, the Ukraine and Russia")
3. ^ Lyubov Sirota
4. ^ Lyubov Sirota "Radiophobia"
5. ^ Lyubov Sirota "Radiophobia" (video)
6. ^ Michel Fernex, "The Chernobyl Catastrophe and Health ", excerpt (original title: "La catastrophe de Tchernobyl et la santé")