T H E  

                      R I G H T    L I V E L I H O O D

                                   A W A R D


                           1992   JOHN GOFMAN  (USA)

             `for his pioneering work in exposing the health effects
                           of low-level radiation.'



     John Gofman has a Ph.D. in nuclear/physical chemistry and a medical
     degree.  Now 74 years old, he is Professor Emeritus in Molecular and
     Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley.  While a
     graduate student in physical chemistry in 1942, Gofman proved the
     fissionability of uranium 233 and developed the process with which he
     and his co-workers successfully isolated the first workable quantity
     of plutonium and discovered several radioactive isotopes of uranium
     and protoactinium.  His subsequent pioneering work on the chemistry of
     lipoproteins and their relationship with heart disease has received
     several medical awards.

     In 1963 Gofman joined the Atomic Energy Commission's Lawrence
     Livermore Laboratory as an Associate Director, and was the founder
     and Director of the Laboratory's Biomedical Research Division.  There
     he gradually became concerned about the health effects of low-level
     radiation and broke with the Laboratory after intense pressure on him
     and a colleague, Dr. Arthur Tamplin, in 1969 not to reveal the
     results of their research in this area.  Their subsequent book
     "Poisoned Power:  the Case Against Nuclear Power Plants" (Rodale 
     Press, 1971, 1979) was a key stimulus to the early anti-nuclear 
     movement.

     In 1971 Gofman founded the Committee for Nuclear Responsibility, a
     small, non-profit, public interest association with three Nobel
     Laureates on its Board.  His subsequent work on low-level radiation
     has been published in three important books, which received
     outstanding reviews in the journals of the medical profession:

     "Radiation and Human Health" (Sierra Club Books, 1981):  `Gofman not
     only demonstrates his mastery of this complex subject but carefully
     explains the basic concepts'.  ("Journal of the American Medical
     Association," 19.3.82).

     "X-Rays:  Health Effects of Common Exams" (with Egan O'Connor, Sierra
     Club Books, 1985):  `It is destined to represent a watershed in the
     controversial field of low-dosage radiobiology ("New England Journal
     of Medicine," NEJM, 6.2.86).

     "Radiation-Induced Cancer from Low-Dose Exposure" (Committee for
     Nuclear Responsibility, 1990):  `excellent and timely book.' ("NEJM,"
     14.2.91).  This book will be published in Russian in 1993.

     Gofman's next book in English, "Radiation Consequences from Chernobyl
     and Comparable Exposures:  Current and Heritable Health Effects," will
     be published in 1993.

     Some of the basic messages of Gofman's work on low-level radiation
     are that official permitted levels of exposure are too high, that
     there is no safe level of exposure, and that such radiation may
     account for one out of every four cancers and be the single most
     important carcinogen to which very large numbers of people are
     exposed.  Gofman is very critical of the way in which much current
     research in this area is conducted, including the Chernobyl research
     carried out by the International Atomic Energy Authority and the
     World Health Organisation.  He has also expressed grave concern about
     the retro-active alterations to the data on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
     victims by the responsible organisation, the Radiation Effects
     Research Foundation.

     To counter such scientifically questionable practices Gofman has
     called for an independent `Watchdog Authority' to oversee the next
     generation of Chernobyl studies, and particularly to enforce nine
     essential rules (many of which were broken by the IAEA and WHO
     studies mentioned earlier) of good scientific practice:  comparable
     groups, a real difference of dose, a sufficiently big difference of
     dose, careful reconstruction of dose, `blinding' of dose analysts,
     `blinding' of diagnostic analysts, no changes after results are
     known, no excessive sub-division of data and no prejudgements.

     The Right Livelihood Award fully associates itself with Gofman's
     demand for a `Watchdog Authority' to ensure that these rules are
     observed in Chernobyl and other important radiation studies.

     `In radiation research, nearly all the work is sponsored by the
     governments which are defending and promoting nuclear power . . .
     Ionizing radiation may well be the most important single cause of
     cancer, birth defects and genetic disorders . . . The stakes for
     human health are very, very high in radiation matters.  It is
     essential that people take no chance that conflict-of-interest is
     producing radiation databases which cannot be trusted.'
     JOHN GOFMAN

     John Gofman, Committee for Nuclear Responsibility
     P.O. Box 421993, San Francisco, CA 94142, USA

     Printed on recycled paper                                     RLA/1993



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