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NAS Study Underway – Are Nuclear Facilities Linked to Cancer?

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In response to a request from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the National Academy of Sciences has formed a committee aimed at determining whether people who live near nuclear facilities are at an increased risk for cancer. The committee met with NRC researchers for the first time yesterday in Washington, DC to discuss the best way to examine cancer incidences in populations near 115-120 nuclear facilities in the US.

“There are recurrent concerns amongst the public about their perception of increased cancer risks,” says Terry Brock, a senior program manager with the NRC and project manager for the study. “We want to be responsive. To do that, we rely on science to try to have the best information available to answer these questions.”


Studies report conflicting results about the link between cancer and nuclear plants. A pair of reports from the UK and Germany found a relationship between childhood leukemia and proximity to nuclear facilities. The last major US analysis on this subject was completed in 1990 and found no correlation. That study is now outdated, say NRC researchers, and it had important limitations. It only looked at cancer deaths, as opposed to incidences, and analyzed groups of people by US counties, which vary widely in size and population density. It also did not consider populations around nuclear plants that began operating after 1982.

Now the NRC is commissioning an up-to-date, comprehensive US-wide study to improve the state of knowledge on the topic. The new study will be able to draw on better information than its predecessors, including state tumor registries which have data on cancer incidences, not just deaths, and new geographic information systems may provide a better way to identify populations near facilities.

During Phase 1 of this project, the 19-member committee, made up of epidemiologists, statisticians, and nuclear, environmental health and cancer experts, will determine if the project is statistically feasible. They’ll have to overcome problems with analyzing the data, including background rates of cancer in the general population and loss of statistical power when looking at very small populations.

Public meetings will take place all over the US and will be available by webcast to garner public comments on the study. Phase 1 will wrap up with a report and recommendations in early 2012. If deemed possible, the study will be carried out in Phase 2.

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    Unle Al said:

    Social priorities: percentages versus parts-per-million.

    California children living near freeways suffer high incidences of pulmonary dyscrasias, asthma through cancer, for inhaling catalytic converter-shed heavy metal microparticulates. There are many more freeways and cars in California than Dolly Partons by-the-sea (San Onofre).

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