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response to the Pittsburg TMI study by TMI Alert







Eric Epstein wrote:



>

>           Science for Sale:

>        TMI and the University of Pittsburgh

>

>     by Eric Joseph Epstein

>

>  The University of Pittsburgh¹s most recent ³health study, released on

> Halloween, is essentially a recitation of discredited protocol and disputed

> data. Re-released on October 31, 2002, the Study actually acknowledged an

> increase in lymphatic and blood cancers among men. However, as in previous

> of University Pittsburgh Studies conducted by the same group of researchers,

> e.g., (Evelynn Talbott et al; 2000) (1), this survey relied on government

> and nuclear industry sponsored 'health studies' were completed in the early

> 1980s. These studies were based on inaccurate dose projections, did not

> factor data only available in 1985  regarding the severity and conditions of

> the partial-core meltdown at Three Mile Island Unit-2 (2) , and did not

> factor the prevailing weather conditions and wind patters in march-April,

> 1979.

>

>  Nor did any of these studies evaluate the health impact to members of our

> community who defueled Three Mile Island.  In fact, General Public Utilities

> choose not maintain a health or cancer registry, despite the fact, that

> from 1979-1989, 5,000 clean-up workers received 'measurable doses' of

> radiation exposure.  (3)

>

>  Moreover, the University of Pittsburgh¹s Study relied heavily on the much

> maligned Pennsylvania Department of Health¹s seventeen year-old survey

> released in September, 1985. That study¹s protocol was ridiculed and

> criticized by epidemiologists at Harvard (Dr. George Hutchison), and Penn

> State (Dr. Robert A Hultquist) for ³diluting² increases in cancer by

> ³expanding² the population base to include people living outside of ten-mile

> study-zone. (October; 1985).  (4)

>

>         1

>

>       A great deal of radiation was indeed released by the partial core melt

> at TMI.  The President's commission estimated about 15 million curies  of

> radiation were released into the atmosphere.  A review of dose assessments,

> conducted by Dr. Jan Beyea, (National Audubon Society; 1984) (5) estimated

> that  from 276 to 63,000 person-rem  were delivered to the  general

> population within 50 miles of TMI.  More recently, David Lochbaum of  the

> Union of Concern Scientists, estimated between 40 million curies and 100

> million curies escaped during the accident.

>

>      For 11 days, in June-July, 1980,  Met Ed illegally vented 43,000 curies

> of radioactive Krypton-85 (beta and gamma; 10 year half life) and other

> radioactive gasses into the environment without having scrubbers in place.

> (6)

> And by 1993,  TMI-2  evaporated  2.3 million gallons of accident generated

> radioactive generated water, including tritium a radioactive form of

> hydrogen (half life; 12. 5 years),  into the atmosphere despite legal

> objections from community-based organizations. (7)

>

>       The plant's owners,  co-defendants and  insurers have paid over $80

> million in health, economic and evacuation claims, including a $1.1 million

> settlement for a baby born with Down's Syndrome. (8)  In June 2000, the

> United States Supreme Court remanded 1,990  unsettled health suits from the

> TMI-accident back to Federal Court. (GPU v. Abrams; Dolan  v. GPU.) (9)

>

>          In August 1996, a study by the University of North Carolina-Chapel

>  Hill, authored by Dr. Steven Wing, reviewed the Susser-Hatch study

>  (Columbia University; 1991). Dr. Wing reported that "...there were reports

>  of erythema, hair loss, vomiting, and pet death near TMI at the time of the

>  accident...Accident doses were positively associated with cancer incidence.

>  Associations were largest for leukemia, intermediate for lung cancer, and

>  smallest for all cancers combined...Inhaled radionuclide contamination

> could differentially impact lung cancers, which show a clear dose-related

>  increase." (10)

>          2

>

>  Today, TMI-2 remains a high level radioactive waste in the middle of the

> Susquehanna River. There was no decommissioning fund established for TMI at

> the time of the accident. The site of the nation¹s worst commercial nuclear

> accident has not been decontaminated or decommissioned. There has not been a

> human entry in the basement of the reactor building since March, 1979...

> (11)

>

>      Mr. Epstein is the Chairman of Three Mile Island Alert , Inc., a

> safe-energy

> organization based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and founded in 1977.

> http://wow.tmia.com.

>

>      He is also the  Coordinator of the EFMR Monitoring group, a

> non-partisan community based organization that monitors Peach Bottom and

> Three Mile Island nuclear generating stations.

> http://www.enviroweb.org/efmr/newsletters.html

>

>        3

>

>        End Notes

>

> 1       Environment Health Perspectives,  June , 2000.

>

> 2      On November 6, 1984, research conducted by the Department of Energy

> on reactor damage during the accident, indicates temperatures may have

> reached in excess of 4,800 degrees. In October 1985, removal of damaged fuel

> from TMI-2 began.

>

> 3      On April 11, 1984, William Pennsyl settled out-of-court two days

> before an administrative law judge was scheduled to hear his case relating

> to GPU¹s refusal to allow Pennsyl to wear a respirator during cleanup

> activities.

>

>         By 1986, TMI-2 defueling work force peaks at 2,000, but by 1989,

> after ten years of defueling activities, 5,000 TMI workers have received

> ³measurable doses² of radiation exposure.

>

> 4       State¹s TMI study clouded by survey method doubts, Frank Lynch,

> ³Sunday Patriot-News², Front Page, Harrisburg, PA, October 6, 1985.

>

> 5       Study available from the TMI Public Health Fund, 16223 Locust

> Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, #215-875-3926.

>

> 6      In November, 1980, the United States Court of Appeals for the

> District of Columbia ruled that the krypton venting (June-July ,1980) was

> illegal.

>

> 7      In 1980, the Susquehanna Valley Alliance, based in Lancaster,

> successfully prevented GPU/Met Ed from dumping 700,000 gallons of

> radioactive water into the Susquehanna River.

>

>        Ten years later, in December 1990 , despite legal objections by

> TMI-Alert and the Susquehanna Valley Alliance,  GPU began evaporating 2.3

> million gallons of accident-generated radioactive water (AGW).

>       Continued on the following page...

>        i

>   By August, 1993, evaporation of 2.3 million gallons of AGW was completed

> over six months behind schedule. The evaporator was disassembled and removed

> from the site. And on October 28, 1993, according to the Pennsylvania

> Department of Environmental Resources, the total activity during evaporation

> was 658 curies of tritium or 1 to 1.3 MR dose to the public.

>

> 8  By 1985,  TMI had paid at least $14 million for out-of-court settlements

> of personal injury lawsuits. The largest settlement was for a child born

> with Down¹s Syndrome. Most of the cases were ³sealed², and only those cases

> involving ³minors² are published as prescribed by the rules and regulations

> of Pennsylvania¹s Orphan¹s Court.

>

> 9 On June 12, 2000, he United States Supreme Court , without comment,

> rejected an appeal by GPU to throw out 1,990 health suits. On May 2, 2001,

> the Third Circuit Court ruled that ³new theories² to support medical claims

> against Three Mile Island will not be allowed.

>

> 10  New Study Shows Higher Cancer Rate near Three Mile Island Nuclear Power

> Reactor Meltdown.

>

>  Researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have

> published, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (February 24,

> 1997), a reevaluation of the health effects near Three Mile Island. They

> have found chromosomal damage and higher cancer rates than previously

> reported, suggesting radiation levels were higher than official estimates.

>

>  Copies of the study may be requested at: #919-541-3345.

>

> 11 December, 1993, GPU placed TMI-2 in Post-Defueling Monitored Storage.

>    On October 17, 2001, due to a ³credible threat² against Three Mile

> Island, the Harrisburg and Lancaster airports were closed for four hours,

> air travel was restricted in a 20-mile radius, and  fighter jets were

> scrambled around TMI.

>         ii



--

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SALEM WEBSITE:  http://www.unplugsalem.org/  COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

WEBSITE:  http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org   The Coalition for Peace

and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.

"First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you; Then you

win. (Gandhi) "Why walk when you can fly?"  (Mary Chapin Carpenter)





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