Keeping radiation risks in perspective

Edward McGaffigan, one of five commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) — the agency that oversees the nuclear power industry, says,

if there was one thing he could convince people of about nuclear power it's that radiation is everywhere, and its risks should be kept in perspective.

"We self-irradiate ourselves at 40 millirems (a unit for measuring small doses of radiation) per year because of the potassium 40 we carry in our bodies. "[In] double beds, you know your spouse will irradiate you to about 2 or 3 millirems a year," McGaffigan said. "These are doses we actually regulate at. And I've always wondered, when people demand even tighter [nuclear] regulation, why they're not demanding that double beds be regulated or bananas be regulated or Brazil nuts be regulated."

Of course, people will say the reason he's dying from cancer is radiation.