Key Issues
Radiation Safety at Nuclear Power Plants: Studies Look at Public, Workers
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February 2008
Key Facts
1 Exposure to radiation is called a “dose” and is expressed in the measures rem and millirem. A rem measures the effect of radiation on the human body. It takes into account both the amount of radiation deposited in body tissues and the type of radiation. A millirem (mrem) is a thousandth of a rem. The average person receives about 20 rems from a chest X-ray.
2 “Occupational Radiation Exposure at Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors,” NUREG-0713, Vol. 28, Table 4-3, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, November 2007. The 140 mrem figure is rounded from 137.3 mrems.
February 2008
Key Facts
- Workers at U.S. facilities that use radioactive materials incur a small occupational health risk. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sets standards to ensure their safety. The agency limits worker doses to no more than five rems1 per year and requires that occupational doses be kept “as low as reasonably achievable.”
- Occupational doses in the U.S. nuclear energy industry averaged only 140 millirems (mrems) per worker in 20062—a 6.4 percent decrease from 2005. The average nuclear plant worker is exposed to less than one-fifth of the 900 mrems per-year dose of cosmic radiation received by airline pilots and cabin crews who regularly fly the high-altitude New York-Tokyo route.
- People living near a nuclear power plant receive only a tiny amount of radiation exposure from the facility. Less than 1 percent of the average person’s total exposure comes from nuclear power plants.
- Radiation is detected easily and is one of the most studied and best understood forms of energy. Many organizations and scientists in the United States and internationally have extensively studied the health effects of radiation exposure. The results of these studies form the scientific basis for radiation safety standards used to protect workers and the public.
- A study released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2005 found that the risk of health effects from exposure to low levels of radiation is small. IARC also concluded that current radiation protection standards for workers and the public remain valid.
- The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in June 2005 released its report from the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation Committee VII (BEIR VII), “Health Risks From Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation.” The study provides strong confirmation that the risk of health effects from exposure to low levels of radiation is small. It also concludes that current radiation protection standards for workers and the public remain valid. The BEIR VII report is the updated scientific basis for radiation safety standards in the United States for the next decade.
- Among organizations chartered to conduct ongoing studies are the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Cancer Institute. Further studies will continue to expand the knowledge base on radiation health effects.
1 Exposure to radiation is called a “dose” and is expressed in the measures rem and millirem. A rem measures the effect of radiation on the human body. It takes into account both the amount of radiation deposited in body tissues and the type of radiation. A millirem (mrem) is a thousandth of a rem. The average person receives about 20 rems from a chest X-ray.
2 “Occupational Radiation Exposure at Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors,” NUREG-0713, Vol. 28, Table 4-3, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, November 2007. The 140 mrem figure is rounded from 137.3 mrems.
