Cancer study to look at reactor operators

["Michael C. Baker" <mcbaker@lanl.gov>]

FYI, Mike... mcbaker@lanl.gov

>June 14, 1999
>
>Cancer study to look at reactor operators 
>
>by Larisa Brass 
>Oak Ridger staff 
>
>If all goes as planned, former operators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory 
>nuclear reactors will become subjects of a study to see whether external 
>radiation doses caused higher rates of lung cancer.
>
>Protocols for the study, sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational 
>Safety and Health, are currently undergoing a peer review process, said Larry 
>Elliott, a branch manager in NIOSH's Division of Surveillance, Hazard 
>Evaluations and Field Studies.
>
>The study is slated to include four Department of Energy sites -- Oak Ridge, 
>the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., the Hanford site in Washington and 
>the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
>
>The study will probably begin early next month, said Elliott. Researchers 
>will launch the effort with visits to each participating site, where NIOSH 
>will hold public meetings to explain the process. No date has been set for a 
>meeting in Oak Ridge.
>
>The study should be wrapped up by early 2001, he said.
>
>The NIOSH research team will examine the employee records of former reactor 
>operators who have died since they worked for DOE.
>
>"It's a mortality study, so we'll be looking at what the cause of death was," 
>said Elliott. Specifically, the team will try to determine "whether or not 
>external, penetrating ionizing radiation causes lung cancer."
>
>Previous studies, including a study of Oak Ridge workers completed in July 
>1997, have pointed toward external radiation as a possible cause of lung 
>cancer, Elliott said. But the workers studied had also received internal 
>radiation doses, confusing the results.
>
>Reactor operators were chosen for the new study because they received 
>external radiation doses almost exclusively, he said.
>
>External radiation refers to doses received from sources outside the body.
>
>Internal radiation refers to exposure through inhalation, ingestion -- by 
>eating, drinking or smoking in contaminated areas -- or absorption into the 
>skin.
>
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