LNT Has Been TNT to Humanity.

• Position: EYE ON ECOLOGY

In 1926, Hermann Muller, an American scientist, exposed fruit flies to radiation equivalent to 1,000 mammograms in just 3.5 minutes, which, of course, caused mutations. He then called this exposure a low dose, even though it was extremely high. (Even Japanese atomic bomb survivors did not receive such a large dose.)

Muller then extrapolated his results down to zero and promoted his Linear No Threshold (LNT) theory, which stated that there is no safe level of radiation and maintained that even tiny amounts are cumulative; both claims are false.

When Muller's correspondence became public late in the 20th century, we learned that his results had been disputed by several of his colleagues, one being Ernst Caspari, whose work Muller had praised. Although Muller promised to test the effects of radiation at low levels, he never did, and, in 1946, when Muller received his Nobel Prize, he told the world that there was "no doubt" that there was no safe level of radiation.

Muller's theory was adopted by the National Academy of Sciences, which stated that "even small amounts of radiation have the power to injure." A concurring article in The New York Times inflated the fear of radiation and became the cornerstone of anti-nuclear bias.

Muller's deception has accelerated climate change by stunting the growth of C[O.sub.2]-free nuclear power. Instead, we have been burning huge amounts of coal, oil, and natural gas, which has caused more than 30,000 premature American deaths per year, and millions more worldwide.

Following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, where operators foolishly ran a Moscow-ordered test with the safety systems disabled, anti-nuclear hysteria caused thousands of European women to endure needless abortions because they feared they were carrying mutated babies.

In 2011, the tsunami that damaged Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant killed thousands but no one died from radiation. However, the subsequent, overzealous, LNT-inspired evacuation took more than 1,600 lives. Hospital and nursing home patients were shuttled off to gymnasium floors and inadequate care while others committed suicide, believing they never would see their homes or businesses again.

We...