The Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) invited Mariette Liefferink to speak at its expert conference on the environmental and social impacts of uranium mining in South Africa.
The CEO of the FSE presented a paper on the environmental, health and social impacts of the reclamation of uraniferous tailings within the Witwatersrand goldfields during the 2014 conference in September, 2014. The FSE’s participation in the conference is sponsored by the African Uranium Alliance.
The conclusions of the Ulm expert meeting are as follows:
1. Even background radiation causes adverse health effects that are measurable;
2. The use of radiation for medical diagnostics causes adverse health effects that are measurable;
3. The use of nuclear energy and the testing of nuclear weapons cause adverse health effects that are measurable;
4. On the basis of epidemiological studies that use the concept of collective dose, health risks of low-dose radiation can be reliably predicted and quantified;
5. The ICRP practice of using studies on Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors as a basis for determining risk factors for low dose radiation must be considered outdated;
6. An improved risk-based concept of radiation protection is needed, combined with stringent implementation of the imperative of radiation exposure minimisation
Please see the attachment for the Summary of the Conference on “Health effects of ionising radiation”