Report: Cancer death rates rising near Fermi nuclear plant
A new study is looking to test baby teeth from children living near the plant. NEWPORT, Mich. (WTVG) – A new report from the Radiation and Public Health Project claims that the cancer death rate in Monroe County, Michigan is on the rise and it’s tying that growth to the Fermi 2 nuclear plant in Newport.
According to the report, which uses public health data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of death due to cancer in Monroe County was roughly equal to that of the rest of the United States. Since 1988, that rate has risen steadily, reaching 11.3% higher than the national average in the most recent 10 years (2009-2018). From 2014-2018, that rate was 14.3% higher than the national average, amounting to 1,794 deaths. In the period between 1969 and 1978, outlines the report, that rate was 4.5% lower than the national average.
The Fermi 2 nuclear power plant went online in June of 1985, and while the report has no concrete evidence that the plant is the definitive cause of the rise in cancer deaths in the county, it does provide a correlative pattern. 13abc has reached out to DTE Energy, owners of the Fermi 2 plant, for comment.
“The trends in Monroe County cancer rates since the mid-1980s cannot overlook the startup of the Fermi reactor, and the potential role of radioactive emissions on health,” says Joseph Mangano MPH MBA, Executive Director of RPHP and study author.
“The report needs to be taken seriously, and follow-up measures are urgently needed,” adds Christie Brinkley, a long-time activist on nuclear issues, Board member of RPHP, and a native of Monroe County. “In particular our children must be protected, as they are most vulnerable.”
In an effort to further understand the role the reactor may have had in the rise in cancer rates in the area, the RPHP is conducting a “Tooth Fairy” study. They’re collecting baby teeth from children living near the power plant to test for levels of Strontium-90, a chemical created by nuclear reactors. They’re hoping to test up to 50 teeth and will compare the results to Sr-90 levels in Detroit-area residents from a 1950s-era study of atomic bomb test fallout. Information about the study, including how to participate, can be found at their website.
UN report claiming no connection between thyroid cancer and Fukushima disaster is not credible
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Beyond Nuclear 11th March 2021, A new UN report which dismisses the March. 11, 2011 Fukushima disaster as the cause of elevated rates of thyroid cancer in that region’s childrennleaves serious questions unanswered and appears to be a rush to press to maximize publicity around the nuclear accident’s 10th anniversary, concluded Beyond Nuclear today. An advance publication of a section of the 2020 United Nations Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) report —Sources, effects and risks of ionizing radiation, Scientific Annex B, Advance Copy — claims that “a rise in thyroid cancer among children in the last decade was not related to increased radiation,” and nstead attributes the increases to more thorough and sophisticated testing.
But according to Dr. Ian Fairlie, a leading radiation scientist, the doses delivered by the Fukushima disaster — and as established by UNSCEAR’s own estimates— would be high enough to cause thyroid cancer among exposed children. Dr.Fairlie asserts the report’s conclusion, that “the increase…is not the result of radiation exposure”, is
“scientifically unsound..[and] inconsistent with UNSCEAR!s own estimates of high collective doses to the thyroid published in its 2012 and 2013 reports.” |
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Small modular reactors not the solution, says German nuclear authority — RenewEconomy
advanced reactor designs and can be operated with converted short-lived radioactive materials, solving the waste problem.But the two reports, seen by SZ, conclude that SMR “carry enormous risks with regard to the
proliferation of weapons-grade materials and will probably never be as cheap as their advocates claim”, Michael Bauchmüller writes. The paper by the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut) found that in order to replace the 400 or so large reactors today, “many thousands to tens of thousands of SMR plants” would have to be built. But this raises questions for proliferation, the spread of dangerous nuclear material.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/small-modular-reactors-not-the-solution-says-german-nuclear-authority/
March 12 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “Canada, O Canada, Thy Electric Bus Investments Are So Beautiful!” • Some of my favorite things to report on are electric bus orders, so news out of Canada made me want to sing from a mountaintop. Canada is putting $2.75 billion into electrifying public transition over the next 5 years, and that includes […]
March 12 Energy News — geoharvey
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 