2007 Press Releases
"The Effects of Exposure to Low Level Ionising Radiation" - Public Lecture, 14 February
How harmful is low radiation? This is the question which
Professor William Reville will pose at the next lecture of UCC's
Faculty of Science Public Lecture Series on Wednesday, 14
February.
The effects of low level ionising radiation on health have been
intensely studied since the late 1940s. The model developed to
estimate the risk of contracting serious ill-health from exposure to
radiation is the linear no threshold (LNT) model. The original
data on which the LNT model was based was good for higher levels of
radiation but poor for the lowest levels of exposure and conservative
estimates were made about risk of exposure to the lowest levels.
There is now much evidence says Professor Reville, including data from
Chernobyl, that the assumptions underpinning the LNT model for low
level radiation were much too conservative. "Low level radiation
is not as dangerous as we feared" said Professor Reville.
William Reville is Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Public
Awareness of Science Officer and College Radiation Protection Officer
at UCC. He also writes the weekly science column Under the
Microscope in The Irish Times. He has written about 100 scientific papers and is author of the book Science Today: Understanding the Natural World (Irish Times Books, 1999).
The lecture takes place at UCC's Boole Lecture Theatre 4 at 8pm on
Wednesday, 14 February. The highly popular lecture series,
organised by Professor William Reville of the Faculty of Science, UCC,
continues weekly until 28 March 2007. Admission to the lecture is
free, and as always, members of the public are invited to attend.
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