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Radiation

A dose of the bomb

Nature volume 424, pages 495–496 (2003)Cite this article

Measurements of high-energy neutron exposure in Hiroshima validate estimates of the amount of radiation that survivors of the atom bomb received. Can we now predict the risks of radiation more reliably?

On page 539 of this issue, Straume et al.1 present new measurements of the levels of neutron radiation to which survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb were exposed 58 years ago. Their calculations resolve a controversy that has existed for two decades — were previous estimates of neutron exposure accurate? It turns out that the answer is yes. But why is this important? We are all exposed to ionizing radiation (X-rays, γ-rays, α-particles and neutrons) — in hospitals and dental surgeries, at home or, in some cases, at work (see Box 1; ref. 2). Health data collected from survivors of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the basis for most estimates of the risks associated with ionizing radiation, which in turn are used to set safe limits for radiation exposure2,3,4. But our ability to estimate risk from this data set is underpinned by our ability to correlate the incidence of disease with the dose of radiation received. If we do not know the radiation dose, we cannot predict the risks.

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Figure 1: Hiroshima, October 1945.

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  1. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, St Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG, UK

    Mark P. Little

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Little, M. A dose of the bomb. Nature 424, 495–496 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424495a

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