Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Tests and Cancer Risks
American ScientistJul 18, 2019
The Facts
According to a study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology on Wednesday, atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted in the mid-1900s are behind high levels of radioactivity found in Europe's wild boars.
The researchers tested boar meat samples for the radioactive isotope cesium-137. They observed that the boars have a higher ratio of cesium-135 than -137, indicating more fallout from nuclear weapons explosions in the 1950s and 1960s than nuclear reactors.
The Spin
Narrative A
This study illustrates just one of the ways in which radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear testing in the 20th century has lasted four decades after such experiments ended. In addition to turning wild boars into an irradiated menace, the explosions that dispersed radioactive debris in the atmosphere have also increased cancer risks in humans through internal and external irradiation exposures.
Narrative B
Nuclear weapons testing could be behind radioactive wild boars, but it's a fallacy that detonations into the atmosphere other than the Castle Bravo test — and even the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents — have caused adverse human health effects, as the radiation effects are not statistically different from zero. This unfounded fear of radiation must be fought, as it causes more harm than good.
Nerd narrative
There's a 20% chance that a nuclear weapon will be detonated (including tests and accidents) in 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.