NRC ASKS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES TO STUDY CANCER RISK IN 

POPULATIONS LIVING NEAR NUCLEAR POWER FACILITIES 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asked the National Academy of Sciences 

(NAS) to perform a state-of-the-art study on cancer risk for populations surrounding nuclear 

power facilities. The NRC has accepted an invitation from the Nuclear and Radiation Studies 

Board of the NAS to discuss the request at the board’s public meeting on April 26; the meeting 

agenda will be posted at www.nationalacademies.org/nrsb. The NRC and the NAS will finalize 

administrative details through the spring so that the study can begin this summer. 

“We’re pleased the Academy is interested in taking on this important study,” said Brian 

Sheron, Director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. “Their broad range of 

medical and scientific experts can give us the best available analysis of the complex issues 

involved in discussing cancer risk and commercial nuclear power plants.” 

The NAS is a non-governmental organization chartered by the U.S. Congress to advise 

the nation on issues of science, technology, and medicine. Through the National Research 

Council and Institute of Medicine, it carries out studies independently of the government using 

processes designed to promote transparency, objectivity, and technical rigor. More information 

on its methods for performing studies is available at 

http://www.nationalacademies.org/studycommitteprocess.pdf. 

The NRC is seeking the expertise of the NAS to update the 1990 U.S. National Institutes 

of Health - National Cancer Institute (NCI) report, “Cancer in Populations Living Near Nuclear 

Facilities” (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/nuclear-facilities). The staff uses 

the NCI report as a primary resource when communicating with the public about cancer 

mortality risk in counties that contain or are adjacent to nuclear power facilities. In the new 

study, the NRC is also interested in having the NAS evaluate cancer diagnosis rates, as well as 

exploring how to divide the study areas around the facilities into geographical units smaller than 

the counties used in the NCI report. 

The NCI report studied more than 900,000 cancer deaths from 1950–1984, using 

mortality records collected from counties that contain nuclear facilities. The researchers 

evaluated changes in mortality rates for 16 types of cancer in these counties from 1950 until each 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

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No. 10-060 April 7, 2010
facility began operation, up until 1982. Cancer diagnosis information was only available for four 

facilities located in Iowa and Connecticut, due to the lack of this type of data being collected. 

The NCI report showed no increased risk of death from cancer for people living in the 

107 U.S. counties containing or closely adjacent to 62 nuclear facilities, including all of the 

nuclear power reactors operational before 1982. 

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