Aydin Yesildirek wrote:

> In a conference, the dean of college of engineering at Idaho State
> University, the other nuclear dump state, claiming daily dose of
> radiation increasing the life expectancy and lowering cancer rate!

        I don't know to what the Dean was refering (and, as you point out,
        he was probably not a disinterested observer) but...

        Human cells have very extensive and effective mechanisms for
        detecting and repairing the genetic damage caused by ionising
        radiation.  Some researchers believe that these mechanisms are
        much more extensive than would be expected given the amount of
        genetic damage that actually occurs naturally.  That is, the
        benefit of these mechanisms to the organism is outweighed by
        their cost, and so there should be no selective pressure in
        favour of them.

        An explanation for this discrepancy (which may not, of course,
        actually exist as it depends upon somewhat speculative inter-
        pretation of various data) is that the background radiation
        flux has, in the past, been at much higher levels than today.

___Bob

PS:     I have found that engineers have great difficulty understanding
        biological systems and processes.  I would give little credence
        to anything a 'dean of engineering' said in relation to life
        expectancy and cancer rates!