Key Issues
Radiation Safety at Nuclear Power Plants: Studies Look at Public, Workers
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Radiation Health Effects On Public Near Plants
Although nuclear power plants represent one of the smallest sources of radiation exposure to the public, a large number of scientific studies have focused on ensuring that they are not a risk to people living nearby.
Several uncertainties are inherent in any study of the effects of radiation. First, it is extremely difficult to identify an appropriate control group of unexposed individuals who are otherwise identical to the exposed population. Second, there are likely to be “confounding variables” among the exposed population—such as exposure to chemicals or cigarette smoke—that are linked to health problems and therefore complicate data interpretation. Third, it often is difficult to determine the exact radiation doses to individuals in the exposed group. For these reasons, it is necessary to carefully scrutinize the methodology of studies whose conclusions deviate from the general scientific consensus about the effects of radiation. Scientific studies include the following:
National Cancer Institute Study
In September 1990, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health announced that a large-scale study found no increased incidence of cancer mortality for people living near 62 nuclear installations in the United States. The research, which evaluated mortality from 16 types of cancer, showed no increase in the incidence of childhood leukemia mortality in the study of surrounding counties after start-up of the nuclear facilities.
In 1987, the NCI initiated the broadest study of its kind ever conducted, partly in response to a study by the United Kingdom’s Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (see below). The NCI surveyed 900,000 cancer deaths in counties near nuclear facilities that had operated for at least five years prior to the start of the study—the minimum time considered sufficient for related health effects to appear.
Radiation Health Effects On Public Near Plants
Although nuclear power plants represent one of the smallest sources of radiation exposure to the public, a large number of scientific studies have focused on ensuring that they are not a risk to people living nearby.
Several uncertainties are inherent in any study of the effects of radiation. First, it is extremely difficult to identify an appropriate control group of unexposed individuals who are otherwise identical to the exposed population. Second, there are likely to be “confounding variables” among the exposed population—such as exposure to chemicals or cigarette smoke—that are linked to health problems and therefore complicate data interpretation. Third, it often is difficult to determine the exact radiation doses to individuals in the exposed group. For these reasons, it is necessary to carefully scrutinize the methodology of studies whose conclusions deviate from the general scientific consensus about the effects of radiation. Scientific studies include the following:
National Cancer Institute Study
In September 1990, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health announced that a large-scale study found no increased incidence of cancer mortality for people living near 62 nuclear installations in the United States. The research, which evaluated mortality from 16 types of cancer, showed no increase in the incidence of childhood leukemia mortality in the study of surrounding counties after start-up of the nuclear facilities.
In 1987, the NCI initiated the broadest study of its kind ever conducted, partly in response to a study by the United Kingdom’s Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (see below). The NCI surveyed 900,000 cancer deaths in counties near nuclear facilities that had operated for at least five years prior to the start of the study—the minimum time considered sufficient for related health effects to appear.
