ABSTRACT
Addressing breast cancer specifically, Dr. Gofman's research shows that when a woman receives significant radiation prior to the age of 20, she is more likely to develop breast cancer before the age of 35. And neither, it appears, has the National Cancer Institute (NCI) considered radiation-induced cancer of high priority, taking 15 years to release its report. In the years following, Dr. Stewart argued for a halt to the conflict of interest between the Energy Departments various functions and its assessment of radiation effects. To give some scope to the enormity of radiation decay, consider the isotope uranium 238. Further discourse on the physics of ionizing radiation are beyond the scope of this chapter; however, the contribution of radiation to breast cancer and resultant public health ramifications will be discussed. It is the unneeded forms of x-ray we must avoid, keeping in mind that radiation procedures have saved lives.
