Inside The Atom

[Astyanax]

Wow. I can't help but wonder how many of the people using those old methods of handling radioactive material went bald and died young. So naive. It's a wonder we survived the first decade of the Cold War.

Surprisingly few. On the Manhattan Project, only four. The most spectacular case was that of Louis Slotin.

The most famous case of occupational radiation poisoning is, of course, Marie Curie, whose coffin is lined with lead to prevent her remains from contaminating any more victims. Her notebooks and papers are still too radioactive to be safely handled.

The 10 Worst Radiation Poisoning Cases in History.

Make no mistake about it: nuclear radiation can be deadly. People around Chernobyl have higher death rates from various diseases including cancer than the rest of the Ukrainian population. But it’s not quite as deadly as tree-huggers and other internet alarmists make out: consider the cases of the Radium Girls.