Socially Constructed Radiation Hazards: Nuclear Power and Fracking 4 -5.30pm on Wednesday 15th November
Staff Room, sixth floor Crystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LD
Dr Fairlie is a radiation biologist, an expert on radiation doses and risks to human health. As a public intellectual, he speaks out plainly against human activities that add to radiation hazards. The Chernobyl accident in 1986 triggered his studies of the hazards of radiation releases from nuclear facilities. He contributes to the international debates about leukaemia clusters around nuclear plants. More recently, he has commented on the likely long-term health impact of Fukushima, the radioactive risks of fracking and the health hazards of shells hardened with depleted uranium. This is a unique opportunity to ask questions of an expert. These topics may not be close to your research interests but they may impact on your life. Nuclear accidents, like atmospheric nuclear tests, have a global impact but small local emissions also have health effects. Dr Fairlie will present some of his work and take questions about the radiation hazards on any of these issues. This is a rare opportunity to ask questions of an independent expert, as most radiation scientists tend to come from nuclear energy or nuclear weapons establishments.
Fairlie, I. 2014. ‘A hypothesis to explain childhood cancers near nuclear power plants’. Journal of environmental radioactivity 133: 10-17.
http://www.ianfairlie.org/news/summing-the-health-effects-of-the-fukushima-nuclear-disaster/
Fairlie, I. 2009. ‘Depleted uranium: properties, military use and health risks’. Medicine Conflict and Survival 25: 41-64
