Dr. Brita Lundberg presented a review of the health risks related to nuclear power. She believes that proponents of nuclear energy generally portray it as “safe, clean, and affordable” and describe its health risks as “remote” or “trivial.” She examined the ways in which she believes this benign characterization is inaccurate.
She explained why the assessment of nuclear energy’s harms to health must examine these harms across the entire nuclear fuel cycle – from mining of uranium, the fuel of nuclear power, through to disposal of radioactive waste and the potential for rare but catastrophic events. She also examined the excess fossil fuel emissions created all along the nuclear fuel cycle.
Dr. Brita Lundberg is Chair of the Environmental and Occupational Health Committee at the Massachusetts Medical Society, a member of the Board of Directors at Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, and an active member of Climate Code Blue, a physician-led advocacy group dedicated to raising public awareness around the health effects of climate change. She is the current CEO and founder of Lundberg Health Advocates, LLC, a patient advocacy group and a former Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University.
You may view Dr Lundberg’s slides here. A video of the session is posted below, and additional references are available here.