Nuclear plants connected to cancer rates

In his recent letter in The Mercury on Feb. 22, Joseph Mangano documented an alarming increase of cancers around Limerick Nuclear Plant. It is shocking that, from 2011-2014, thyroid cancers rose 97 percent in Montgomery County, home of Limerick Nuclear Plant, compared to 9 percent for the rest of Pennsylvania. Iodine-131 causes thyroid cancer. Another study showed Strontium-90 was found in local baby teeth. The only two sources that produce these radioactive man-made chemicals are atomic bomb explosions and nuclear power plants.

For decades, public concerns about radiation have been routinely dismissed at Limerick. In fact, PR statements about Limerick violations that release radiation haven’t changed much in over 30 years.

Generally, the radiation-related PR falsely claims no significant threat to the public.

How could NRC and Exelon really know how much radiation Limerick releases or what the additive, cumulative and synergistic effects to human health are? Sometimes they don’t have complete data. One example of incomplete data is in an Environmental Monitoring Report from 2007 that contained only partial information because:

An air Iodine sample wasn’t shipped.

A holder was damaged in a car accident, exposing a sample to the elements, rendering it useless

Dosimeters used for one-quarter of a year were damaged by moisture, so the vender averaged the three that survived to arrive at an ambient radiation level.

An improperly placed filter resulted in no available air particulate sample.

Limerick’s 2011 Radiation Release Report was meaningless. For example:

Radioactive Iodine was allowed an uncertainty rate of 20.4 percent.

Fission and Activation Gasses were allowed an uncertainty rate of 36.6 percent.

Long gaps can often exist between the beginning of a radiation release, the discovery of it, and fixing the cause. During those gaps, radiation exposure can threaten the public as well as workers.

In 1980, a PECO executive stated that so many safety features had been installed, that deadly radiation would not escape from Limerick during a meltdown. That was a shameless lie. PECO never installed the filtered vents that could have protected us from Limerick’s radioactive releases.

Decades later, in 2012, after Fukushima’s multiple meltdowns, filtered vents were recommended for Limerick by the NRC. Exelon also refused to install filters and delayed vent installation.

Decades of evidence show that Limerick’s radiation could be a major factor in the growth of cancer rates around Limerick Nuclear Plant, especially in the young. It is long past time for elected officials, NRC, and the public to start to consider the enormous costs in terms of human suffering associated with radiation released from Limerick Nuclear Plant. These costs could be drastically reduced if Limerick Nuclear Plant closed.