[ RadSafe ] " NRC Review Disputes Tooth Fairy Radiation Claims "

[Franta, Jaroslav]

http://www.nei.org/index.asp?catnum=4&catid=329
NRC Review Disputes Tooth Fairy Radiation Claims 
Summary

In response to a request from the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently issued a report
that supports the conclusion of previous studies that claims of a link
between Strontium-90 and cancer are unsubstantiated by sound science. In its
report, the NRC stated that "there is little reason to believe that airborne
emissions from any civilian nuclear power plant are contributing to
childhood cancer in populations living near these plants." 

The request from the New Jersey authorities centered on an article published
in the International Journal of Health Services, "Strontium-90 in deciduous
teeth as a factor in early childhood cancer." Jay Gould, a co-founder of the
anti-nuclear Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) organization,
authored the article. RPHP is an anti-nuclear citizens group based in
Manhattan that has a long-range goal of closing down nuclear power plants in
the United States. The group claims that Strontium-90 shows up in teeth of
infants and is directly responsible for an increase in breast cancer rates
on Long Island. 

The NRC's review of the issue clearly explains how Strontium-90 is a major
by-product of Cold War aboveground nuclear weapons testing conducted by the
United States and the Soviet Union. The two countries signed the Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty in 1963, effectively ending aboveground testing. Much of the
Strontium-90 remaining in the environment is directly linked to the weapons
testing and little Strontium-90 is produced at the nation's nuclear power
plants. In fact, any Strontium-90 releases are so small as to be
undetectable when compared to amounts already in the environment. A general
consensus of the scientific community is that it is misleading and reckless
to equate the mere presence of a radioactive isotope, many of which are
produced naturally by the environment and the human body, with adverse
health effects. 

The NRC substantiates its case by citing studies done by the National
Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry and an epidemiology study conducted in
Suffolk County in New York that dispute the RPHP's report. Other studies
including one from the American Cancer Institute's New Jersey Division in
1997 and a report from the United Nation's Scientific Committee on the
Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) released in fall 2000 further support
the NRC's review. In fact, the UNSCEAR definitively reported that radiation
emanating from nuclear power plants is "one twelve-thousandth of natural
background radiation."

Information


Letter from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
<http://www.nei.org/../documents/NJDEPLettertoUSNRC.pdf>

Letter from U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection
<http://www.nei.org/../documents/USNRCLettertoNJDEP.pdf>

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Enclosure 1: Issues Raised By Gould, et.
al. <http://www.nei.org/../documents/USNRCIssuesRaisedbyGouldetal.pdf>

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Enclosure 2: Talking Points
<http://www.nei.org/../documents/USNRCTalkingPoints.pdf>

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Enclosure 3: Strontium
<http://www.nei.org/../documents/USNRCStrontium.pdf>