How Fukushima Led to a Radiation Panic

[PamW]

6. You wouldn't believe..

You wouldn't believe the number of times I've had anti-nukes attempt to make that argument; that the human body can tell the difference between "natural" radiation and "man-made" radiation.

Consider the very common beta radiation. When a radioactive nucleus decays in beta radiation; it emits an electron. There are not multiple flavors of electrons. An electron is an electron is an electron.

It slows down due to the Coulomb reaction, and so the initial energy isn't all that important.

An electron slowing down looks the same to the atoms it pass regardless of what radionuclide made it.

Does water that your get from rainfall differ from the water you make burning hydrogen and oxygen?

The world is made of building blocks of particles and bits of energy. If we create radiation using the same physics and same methods as does Mother Nature, our radiation products don't look any different than the ones that Mother Nature makes.

PamW