tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post3996745076336473116..comments2024-03-24T17:06:47.135-04:00Comments on Story Bones: Nothing to see, move alongSteve Buchheithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12999709767641212586noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-48814793497875797742011-03-25T14:59:44.390-04:002011-03-25T14:59:44.390-04:00Hey Cora, not all of us are uncritical consumers o...Hey Cora, not all of us are uncritical consumers of the news or media. The total death toll of Chernobyl will be difficult to quantify, and right now there are widely different tallies depending on where you draw the lines. For the one article linked, that author discounts the WHO's 2005 report which showed the possible 4000. Since those deaths won't happen for a little, it's easy to drop those numbers off as "it could have been anything in the past 20 years that got them."<br /><br />It's the same thought process that kept the US from recognizing the true scope of the damage done from burning fossil fuels and linking black lung and other respiratory diseases to the mining and combustion. Fortunately (or unfortunately) since nuclear "accidents" of this scope are rare, it'll be harder to tie a lot of the early deaths directly to exposure (again, because of the "it's taken so long, and they might have other factors" argument, it's an easy one to make, and one that's hard to disproved).Steve Buchheithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12999709767641212586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-13939963978111870772011-03-24T21:30:35.233-04:002011-03-24T21:30:35.233-04:00I'm very glad to finally see a post from a US ...I'm very glad to finally see a post from a US perspective which does not downplay the dangers of nuclear power. Coming from a country where opposition to nuclear power is widespread to the point that pretty much the only ones still backing nuclear power are the power companies and certain politicians and even they do not dare to admit it openly, seeing the cavalier reaction to the Fukushima disaster and the constant downplaying of the very real dangers of nuclear power in the English speaking world has been very frustrating.<br /><br />Though the Chernobyl death toll figures you quote are much too low. Even the WHO corrected the estimated death toll up to 14000 to 17000 deaths a few years ago, while some environmental organizations not known to be kooks give figures of up to 93000. I'd give you a link, but the only ones I have are in German, as the English language media quotes the earlier, lower figures.Corahttp://corabuhlert.comnoreply@blogger.com