Letter to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix in response to July 3 editorial "Crucial to have rational debate on nuclear issues"

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission would once again like to correct some statements made in the editorial “Crucial to have rational debate on nuclear issues” by Mark Lemstra, Special to The StarPhoenix. 

In reality, the IARC international study quoted by the author found a 2% excess risk of cancer, not the 97% that the author continues to misquote. Similarly, the Canadian data shows a 4% excess. The author errs in his calculations by not recognizing that the raw risk numbers in the study must be multiplied by the radiation doses received by the worker, doses which are very small.  

While we agree that a rational dialogue should occur, continuing to misrepresent the data does not lead to such a dialogue.

For additional information, please visit the CNSC's Web site at nuclearsafety.gc.ca.

Terry Jamieson
Vice-President
Technical Support Branch
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission