The President of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Nuclear Medicine, Dr Joseph Wong, says the public needs to learn more about radiation to help dispel unwarranted fears about anything to do with the word "nuclear".
Dr Wong was speaking in response to the formation of FE3R, an association of medical professionals in France, recently created to combat fear of radiation at ordinary background and medical dose levels.
The French organisation is concerned that because of the largely negative treatment of nuclear issues by the European media, patients with cancer and other diseases may refuse treatment involving ionising radiation for themselves and their children.
"One of the great myths is that all radiation is harmful," Dr Wong said. "We are exposed to low levels of radiation every moment of every day from naturally occurring radioactive elements all around us, including the ground, air and water. We receive a small dose of radiation every time we breathe, shower, fly in aeroplanes or visit a cave.
There are locations overseas where external natural background radiation s 15 times higher than in Australia. However, no health problems have been found."
Human-made radiation is used for medical uses such as X-rays for radiography and tomography and radioactivity in nuclear medicine. Radiation doses in these procedures vary depending on the treatment, but a patient having a lung scan is exposed to the same dose of radiation they would receive on two return air flights between Sydney and London.
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is the major producer of radiopharmaceuticals and isotopes for Australia and the local region. Radioactive elements in radiopharmaceuticals typically have short half-lives, so that radiation quickly dissipates from the body.
Dr Wong said that because of the short half lives of radiopharmaceuticals, Australia needs to have its own research reactor to produce them.
"The importation of radiopharmaceuticals cannot be sustained in the long run as this would increase waiting times for diagnosis and therapy, and seriously compromise patient care," said Dr Wong.
"This is particularly pertinent for provincial and rural nuclear medicine practices that are at the end of long supply chains. There is really no viable alternative to a local research reactor as the source of radiopharmaceuticals for medical use."