ML060410476

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Letter to the Honorable Jon Corzine from New Jersey Dept of Environment Protection, Recommendation Against Further State Funding of the Radiation and Public Health Project Report on Strontium 90 and Oyster Creek Ngs
ML060410476
Person / Time
Site: Oyster Creek
Issue date: 01/18/2006
From: Timins J
State of NJ, Dept of Environmental Protection
To: Corzine J
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, State of NJ
References
%dam200604, TAC MC7625
Download: ML060410476 (2)


Text

DEPPTMEF OF ENVIRONM N AL PRPTECTION JON S. CORZINE NPew ersey commission on Kaclation Frotection LISA P. JACKSON Governor PO Box 4 15 Acting Commissioner Trenton, NJ 08625-04 15 January 18, 2006 The Honorable Jon Corzine Governor State of New Jersey State House PO Box 1 Trenton, NJ 08625-0001 Re:

Recommendation Against Further State Funding of the Radiation and Public Health Project for Analysis of Radioactive Strontium-90 in Baby Teeth

Dear Governor Corzine:

In fiscal year 2004, the State of New Jersey appropriated $25,000 to the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) to analyze levels of radioactive strontium-90 (Sr-90) in baby teeth. The results of their study, titled "Understanding Patterns and Trends of Radioactive Sr-90 in Baby Teeth of New Jersey Children with Cancer: A Report to the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services", were presented to the Commission on Radiation Protection (Commmission) on February 16, 2005. The RPHP contends that New Jersey children are more likely to have higher Sr-90 in their baby teeth if they have leukemia, if they were diagnosed before the age of ten, and if they lived in Ocean or Monmouth County (near the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station).

The Commission and staff of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have reviewed the RPHP's findings in the enclosed report. As you know, members of the Commission and staff of the DEP have extensive knowledge in the sciences, including physics, radiology, radiation biology, and medicine. The Commission and the DEP are well qualified to evaluate the scientific merits and methods of the RPHP.

The RPHP report concludes that no firm conclusions can be drawn because the limited number of teeth collected and analyzed make any comparisons statistically insignificant.

The RPHP recommends further study and asks that the Commission support any RPHP request for further funding. The Commission and the DEP agree that no conclusions can be drawn from the RPHP study. However, the Commission and the DEP do not support further funding and believe that further study is not worth pursuing for the following reasons:

  • The scientific validity of the data is questionable for reasons explained in Section 8.0 of the enclosed report.

New Jersey is an Equal Opportunity Employer e Printed on Recycled Paper and Recyclable

  • The predominance of environmental data shows no increase of Sr-90 in the environment.
  • Conservative modeling demonstrates that the Sr-90 in baby teeth did not originate from OCNGS.

e It is highly likely that the Sr-90 present in baby teeth is from global fallout from nuclear weapons testing.

e There are no preventive strategies that could be employed to prevent accumulation of Sr-90 in teeth from global fallout. (A preventive strategy is the justification that RPHP uses to pursue further study.)

If, after reading the enclosed report, you or any State legislator have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely, Julie Tinins, M.D., F.A.C.R.

Chair, Commission on Radiation Protection