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Case study: Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Southeastern Massachusetts health study on leukemia around Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: Who won?

Abstract

In October 1990, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health released their Southeastern Massachusetts health study. This is a study of leukemia incidence in 22 towns around Pilgrim NPP, for the period 1978 through 1986. Pilgrim Station had been returned to operation following a 3 year outage, from 1986-1989. During this period, some $300 million in capital outlay was invested by Boston Edison in upgrading safety systems and installing the so-Called Three Mile Island upgrades. A copy of the peer review panel report is attached to this paper. Because of the interest in the Southeastern Massachusetts Health Study in Europe. There are three major points the Panel made which can summarized: 1. No excess of leukemia was found around Pilgrim Station. 2. The Southeastern Massachusetts Health Study over-predicted by a factor of 90 the number of leukemia cases attributable to plant operation. 3. The Southeastern Massachusetts Health Study failed to account for exposure to natural background radiation, which represents far larger biological exposure than plant Operation. Given All Of This, One Might Ask Why Didn't Common Sense Prevail In The Beginning? One Answer Might Be The Energy Of The Media In Pursuing The Story And Playing It Up No Matter What.  More>>
Authors:
Flanagan, Anita [1] 
  1. Boston Edison Company (United States)
Publication Date:
Jul 01, 1993
Product Type:
Conference
Report Number:
INIS-XA-C-010
Resource Relation:
Conference: ENS PIME '93: International workshop on nuclear public information in practice, Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), 31 Jan - 3 Feb 1993; Other Information: Ills; PBD: 1993; Related Information: In: ENS PIME '93: International workshop on nuclear public information in practice. Transactions, 276 pages.
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; LEUKEMIA; PILGRIM-1 REACTOR; PUBLIC HEALTH; PUBLIC POLICY; REACTOR SAFETY
OSTI ID:
20563936
Research Organizations:
European Nuclear Society, Brussels (Belgium)
Country of Origin:
IAEA
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: XA04C0408018074
Availability:
Available from INIS in electronic form
Submitting Site:
INIS
Size:
page(s) 0236-0246
Announcement Date:
Mar 06, 2005

Citation Formats

Flanagan, Anita. Case study: Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Southeastern Massachusetts health study on leukemia around Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: Who won?. IAEA: N. p., 1993. Web.
Flanagan, Anita. Case study: Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Southeastern Massachusetts health study on leukemia around Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: Who won?. IAEA.
Flanagan, Anita. 1993. "Case study: Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Southeastern Massachusetts health study on leukemia around Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: Who won?" IAEA.
@misc{etde_20563936,
title = {Case study: Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Southeastern Massachusetts health study on leukemia around Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: Who won?}
author = {Flanagan, Anita}
abstractNote = {In October 1990, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health released their Southeastern Massachusetts health study. This is a study of leukemia incidence in 22 towns around Pilgrim NPP, for the period 1978 through 1986. Pilgrim Station had been returned to operation following a 3 year outage, from 1986-1989. During this period, some $300 million in capital outlay was invested by Boston Edison in upgrading safety systems and installing the so-Called Three Mile Island upgrades. A copy of the peer review panel report is attached to this paper. Because of the interest in the Southeastern Massachusetts Health Study in Europe. There are three major points the Panel made which can summarized: 1. No excess of leukemia was found around Pilgrim Station. 2. The Southeastern Massachusetts Health Study over-predicted by a factor of 90 the number of leukemia cases attributable to plant operation. 3. The Southeastern Massachusetts Health Study failed to account for exposure to natural background radiation, which represents far larger biological exposure than plant Operation. Given All Of This, One Might Ask Why Didn't Common Sense Prevail In The Beginning? One Answer Might Be The Energy Of The Media In Pursuing The Story And Playing It Up No Matter What. Another Answer Might Be That The Original Study Purported To Show 'What Everyone Knows'. No One Really Stopped To Question Whether The Study Was Politically Motivated, Given That The Division of Environmental Health's Budget Had Been Cut.}
place = {IAEA}
year = {1993}
month = {Jul}
}