Yet the general public, and indeed most scientists, are unaware of this, and widely believe that irradiated survivors suffered a very high cancer burdens and dramatically shortened life spans, and that their progeny were affected by elevated mutation rates and frequent abnormalities. Survivors that received huge whole body doses of 1 Gy irradiation (~1000 mSV, ~100 rem) have a significantly elevated rate of cancer (42% increase) but only limited decrease of longevity (about 1 year), while their offspring show no increased frequency of abnormalities and no detectable elevation in mutation rates.
