Murray:

Let's get real. The blasts at Nagasaki and Bikini were focussed in a radius measured in miles. The impact of a solar flare, no matter how enormous at origin, is propogated along a radius measured in millions of miles, along a surface that expands by the inverse square law...which means by the time it reaches the Van Allen belt its energy density is pretty attenuated I would imagine. And although the Van Allen belt certainly does contain layers of electromagnetic force and some radiation, I haven't seen anything indicating the level and frequency of that radiation is lethal. Especially to someone behind a reflective hull wearing a protective suit.

A