Former LU head talks planetary emergencies

Missing radioactive equipment from hospitals around the world could lead to disaster, says a former longtime Lakehead University chancellor.

Terrorists looking to upset the world order leap at the opportunity to get their hands on the heavily protected material, which can be turned into dirty bombs, with a half life of up to 1,000 year, said Lorne Everett, who spoke about planetary emergencies at Lakehead University on Tuesday night.

Everett, who has spent 21 years with the World Federation of Scientists, who get together each year in Erice, Italy to discuss planetary emergencies like AIDS, global warming and the re-emerging threat of nuclear war.

Everett said he hoped people attending his lecture gained an appreciation for the threat of nuclear disaster not from states but terrorists.

"All they have to do is steal one from a hospital associate with a normal kind of a bomb and we’re looking at long term destruction," Everett said.

Because of the "mutually assured destruction" philosophy, Everett said state-sponsored nuclear attacks are highly unlikely.

"I think that the North Korean blustering is just that. I don’t think for a second that they would attack anyone with their nuclear arsenal. The numbers that are available elsewhere would scorch their country," he said.

Everett also spoke of things closer to home that people can help with. With 300 billion pounds of plastic being produced worldwide last year, the threat of bisphenol-A can be reduced in drinking water just by looking at the bottom of a container to see if there is a number seven on it.

People can stay safe from BPA and have cleaner water, Everett said.

"That’s how people can right away tomorrow can start protecting themselves," said Everett.