The Lnt Report - by Mike Conley (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The LNT Report: How the linear no-threshold model of radiation safety made the world afraid of nuclear power. This book is a fascinating detective story, uncovering the bad faith, muddled thinking, and ideological prejudice that led to a false and injurious conclusion: nuclear radiation is risky in any dosage, no matter how low. The truth, finally made clear by many years of careful scientific criticism, is that low doses of radiation are harmless, and even beneficial to health, because of the human body's natural ability to repair cells damaged by radiation. It follows that fears of the risks of nuclear power have been wildly exaggerated and then irresponsibly hyped.

Nuclear energy is not only clean and inexhaustible, its risks are far smaller than the hazards of any alternative--including not just fossil fuels but also 'renewables', solar and wind, which turn out to be far more dangerous than people have been led to believe. While radiation can indeed be dangerous at high levels, the issue has been blown out of proportion by an unsupported--and now known to be provably wrong--model of nuclear risk assessment called Linear No-Threshold or LNT. LNT was first presented to the world by Hermann Muller in 1946, when nuclear technology was in its infancy. LNT holds that "There is no safe dose of radiation, and all doses are cumulative. Both assertions are now known to be false.

Beginning with Muller's careless assumptions. The LNT Report traces the twists and turns of LNT's reception and dissemination by politicians, media, and the public. The propagation of LNT was boosted by some people's horror at the prospect of nuclear war, leading them to say anything to discredit nuclear energy, and also by fossil fuel interests, which had their own anti-nuclear bias.

The LNT Report has been exhaustively vetted and approved by numerous scientific experts, whose names and credentials are listed in the book. This is solid science at its best, explained to the non-scientist reader by a brilliant professional writer. It's a companion book to Earth Is a Nuclear Planet (2024) by the same author.

Review Quotes

"With enough facts and juicy historical details to satisfy most of us, The LNT Report reads like a detective story, sprinkled with (nerdy) humor here and there. Layer by layer, it uncovers the BS (Bad Science) behind much of our nuclear fear."--RAULIPARTANEN, author of The Age of Energy and Climate Gamble

"This exposé, with wit and clarity, debunks the nonsense that has prevented deployment of our safest energy source with the smallest environmental footprint--modern nuclear power. For the sake of young people, this story must bespread widely."--PROFESSORJAMESHANSEN, Earth Institute, Columbia University

"The author has dug out the story, something that the EPA and the scientific community have failed to do . . . One can only hope that The LNT Report will be read by all students from high school on, in this country and around the world."--PROFESSOREDWARDJ. CALABRESE, University of Massachusetts Amherst

"Conley provides a blow-by-blow account of how bad science and outright fraud became the basis of our regulations on radiation safety."--JOSHUAGOLDSTEIN, author of A Bright Future and co-writer of Oliver Stone's famous documentary movie, Nuclear Now

"Public attitudes on the risks of nuclear energy are dominated by mythical thinking, not scientific evidence. This history of scientific work on the effects of radiation deserves a wide audience and careful consideration."--SPENCERWEART, author of The Rise of Nuclear Fear

"Ed Calabrese is a brilliant scientific detective, and Mike Conley is a brilliant scientific explainer. No ifs or buts, if you have any rational faculty whatsoever, this book will absolutely convince you. The dangers of nuclear energy have been outrageously exaggerated!"--DR. RAYSCOTTPERCIVAL, creator of Enlightenment Defended, author of The Myth of the Closed Mind

"Fear of Nuclear Energy is far more dangerous than nuclear energy itself."--ROBERTBRYCE, author of A Question of Power

"If you ask, Does LNT make sense?, Conley's step by step historical narrative with citations, for better or for worse, explains it all."--RAYROTHROCK, nuclear engineer, venture capitalist, philanthropist