R.I.P. REFERENCE MAN (1974-2010 )

The International Commission on Radiological Protection defined Reference Man as... “between 20-30 years of age, weighing 70 kg, is 170 cm in height...a Caucasian and is a Western European or North American in habitat and custom.” He was created in order to place all radiological data in his context to give a fair picture of the hazards of nuclear science. Reference Man has been the only model used in the majority of studies. Reference Woman and Reference Child have subsequently been developed as well, but are largely ignored. It's time for Reference Child and Reference Woman to step forward and do their jobs.

However, the radiological absorption capacities of the Reference Family are nullified by the realities of nuclear weapons. In the field of an actual nuclear blast (that is, if you stand within a mile of the next explosion of a nuclear weapon) where the purpose of a real nuclear weapon is realized, all members of the Reference Family are irrelevant, because the Family and everyone else are suddenly gone—vaporized by the heat and blast.

You can help. Follow your conscience as formed by the precepts of Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Paganism or Christianity and you'll know that people have no rights to kill other people, nor to damage the Earth's environment.