3 ms·
That link says Nader said "Any use of plutonium, a tiny 0.2 micrograms of which has given lung cancer to animals, must be viewed with utmost caution". That's
by eesmith 4y ago
That link says Nader said "Any use of plutonium, a tiny 0.2 micrograms of which has given lung cancer to animals, must be viewed with utmost caution".
That's pretty close.
With a bit of Google Scholar search I found David Krieger's 1975 article "Terrorists and nuclear technology" in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, at
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1975.11458253 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1975.11... which says:
> Plutonium-239, the product of the nuclear fuel cycle used for the construction of nuclear weapons, is one of the most toxic substances known to man. It is also a substance which occurs rarely in nature and is almost entirely man-made in the nuclear fuel cycle. One microgram of plutonium-239 ingested into the lungs is capable of causing lung cancer. Approximately, one 8,000,000th of a pound of inhaled plutonium has caused lung cancer in animals. Thus, when effectively dispersed, a much smaller quantity of plutonium than would be needed for a nuclear bomb could necessitate the evacuation of dense urban areas.
There's the 8 billion.
We know that quotes get mis-attributed to more famous people.
My guess is that Krieger's comment got rephrased and mis-attributed to Nader, who was, after all, talking about the same topic.
- eesmith 4y agoTurns out I can't math today. 1/(one 8,000,000th) = 8 million, not 8 billion.