Lawmaker repeatedly called for study of health impacts for residents
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statement after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced today that it will move forward with a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) pilot study of cancer risk in populations around six U.S. nuclear power plant sites and a nuclear fuel facility. Rep. Markey has consistently called for an independent study on this issue and had recommended that the NRC request NAS to perform such a study.
 
“I have long been concerned about whether there are any adverse health impacts associated with living near nuclear reactors,” said Rep. Markey. “It is my hope that this pilot study will result in a thorough, accurate accounting of the health risks associated with living near nuclear facilities. I applaud the NRC for taking this important step, and I look forward to reviewing the results of the study.”  
 
In 2005 Rep. Markey called for an independent examination of the question of public health risks surrounding nuclear power plants when he was contacted by Cynthia Sauer, then an Illinois resident whose daughter had brain cancer and who also had reviewed health statistics which appeared to indicate an elevated level of pediatric cancer incidence and other health problems in populations living near the Dresden and Braidwood nuclear power plants. Her family had unsuccessfully attempted to obtain additional information from the NRC, which had relied on an admittedly-flawed 1990 study conducted by the National Cancer Institute to assert that no such negative health effects existed. These concerns were heightened when, in 2006, Rep. Markey again wrote the NRC when he learned that Exelon, the licensee of the Illinois reactors, had released millions of gallons of tritiated water from these reactors over a period of several years without notifying the authorities.
 
As part of the 2005 Energy Bill consideration, Rep. Markey offered unsuccessful amendments to create a peer-reviewed grant program that would conduct further study into the question.
 
In 2009, Rep. Markey suggested to the NRC that it consider utilizing the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an independent and scientifically sound study, which the NRC ultimately did. Today’s announcement marks the NRC’s decision to move forward with the NAS’s recommended approach.
 
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