Let us
frankly expose the TRUTH – Common man (person) including illiterate,
semi-illiterate, and so-called literate or educated, hardly know anything about
ionizing radiation, its benefits, and harmful effects. They only know that
radiation is dangerous, so many thousands have died in the explosions of the atom
bombs in Japan; the exposed person will lose hair and become impotent, etc etc. How
we are going to explain all the benefits we are talking about to such a large percentage, maybe more than 90% of the population who are lacking an
understanding of elementary radiation physics, mathematics, biology and
medicine?
Communication
is the key. All the practitioners of radiation and radiological
protection, facility operators, and the government authorities should focus on ways and means to create awareness amongst the
people about radiation: benefits of low-level exposures; medical uses in
health-care; industry and food preservation; health effects at high levels of
exposures, and how safely the radioactive waste is managed by well-informed experts.
We should use mass media communication systems and school/college syllabus to the maximum possible extent. Desist from use of words, like probability, ALARA, risk
analysis, etc when communicating with members of the public.
