Understanding the Risks and Benefits of Nuclear Power

Joseph J. Mangano
Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project

NJIT Campus Center Ballroom
October 19, 2011, 3:00 – 4:30 pm

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED

Soon after its destructive introduction at the end of World War II, a far more benign form of nuclear fission was promoted as a technology that would provide the world with safe and virtually inexhaustible energy. Over the decades, the numerous nuclear power plants brought online have become a very important source of electricity in many countries.

But in addition to generating electricity, these plants have generated significant anxiety about their safety and vexing questions about their future viability in the global mix of energy resources. Names like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima have figured prominently in the debate over the prospects of nuclear power.

On October 19, Joseph J. Mangano will assess both the positive and questionable aspects of fission power plants in his Technology and Society Forum presentation. Mangano is an epidemiologist and director of the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP). This nonprofit educational and scientific organization (www.radiation.org), established by scientists and health professionals, is dedicated to studying the risks of radiation exposure from nuclear reactors and weapons tests and educating the public about these risks. RPHP is the only U.S. group of professional researchers with this mission.

Mangano, whose expertise is widely cited in the news media, has published 27 peer-reviewed medical journal articles and has written or contributed to four books on radiation exposure and related topics. He directed a study measuring strontium-90 in 5,000 baby teeth, the only investigation of radiation in the bodies of Americans living near nuclear plants. Mangano holds a master’s in public health from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from Fordham University.