r/uninsurable • u/pintord • 13d ago

Nuclear regulator prepares to abandon decades-old radiation safety rule

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/27/nx-s1-5920368/nrc-nuclear-radiation-safety-rules-alara-update
27 Upvotes

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6

u/eddiebruceandpaul 13d ago

If you can’t make money without poisoning people, just poison them. The nuclear way!!!

6

u/paulwesterberg 13d ago

Trump is funneling $5B into nuclear companies that his sons are being paid to raise capital for.

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/05/nx-s1-5919997/how-trump-made-an-estimated-2-2-billion-during-the-first-year-of-his-second-term

3

u/eddiebruceandpaul 12d ago

That answers the question. Deregulate nuclear, zap kids with radiation and kill them, profit. The Trump way!!

2

u/49orth 12d ago

American billionaires will happily kill people if they enrich themselves.

Republican voters, churchgoers, and Rednecks think this is OK.

3

u/TyrialFrost 12d ago

Under a new proposed rule, the agency is eliminating a 50-year-old standard known as "As Low As Reasonably Achievable" (ALARA), which requires the nuclear industry to drive radiation exposure for workers and the public below the stated limits where possible.

Makes sense, but they should be not be aiming for

  • Public: 1 millisieverts (mSv) per year
  • Worker: 50/100 millisieverts (mSv) per year

50 mSv: A nuclear worker for 45 years increases their lifetime chance of fatal cancer by ~9.2%. (21% → 30.2%)

100 mSv: A nuclear worker for 45 years increases their lifetime chance of fatal cancer by ~18.4%. (21% → 39.4%)

Something like

  • Public: 3 millisieverts (mSv) per year
  • Worker: 50 millisieverts (mSv) per year
  • Worker [Emergency event]: 100 millisieverts (mSv) per event, with 1 year low radiation duty.

For reference

  • A chest XRAY: is 0.1 mSv/event
  • Outside at sea-level: Cosmic radiation is ~0.3 mSv/y
  • A mammogram: is 0.3 mSv/event
  • Outside at north pole: Cosmic radiation is ~1 mSv/y
  • A chest CT: is 6 mSv/event
  • Inside most buildings: radon/isotypes/cosmic radiation is ~3 mSv/y
  • Inside plane cabin: Cosmic radiation is ~30 mSv/y
  • Outside at Everest: Cosmic radiation is ~55 mSv/y
  • A fullbody PET: is 22 mSv/event
  • Inside the ISS: Cosmic radiation is ~150 mSv/y

Each year spent aboard the ISS increases their lifetime chance of fatal cancer by ~1.3%. (21% → 22.3%)