ML19308E139
| ML19308E139 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 02/15/1980 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Slepack D, Slepack J AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8003210286 | |
| Download: ML19308E139 (3) | |
Text
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February 15, 1980 Drs. Donna and Jerry Slepack 817 Brighton Avenue Oregon City, OR 97045
Dear Drs. Slepack:
I am writing in response to your letter to President Carter concerning the health effects of Three Mile Island.
I regret that this answer to your letter has been delayed. The accident and its consequences have created a substan-tial increase in the agency's workload, which has prevented me from responding to you as promptly as I would have liked to.
The very small dose of radiation that was received by people in the area came from radioactive gases that escaped from the auxiliary building. The average dose of radioactivity received by the population within 50 miles of Three Mile Island was approximately 4 millirems. The maximum exposure to any individual was less than 100 millirems, which is less than the yearly dose each person receives as a result of natural background radiation.
Doses at these levels result in less than one health effect over the lifetime of all people in this Natural background radiation received by people in the Harrisburg, area.
Pennsylvania, area is approximately 125 millirems per year. To put these doses into perspective, it should be noted that a traveler flying round trip in a jet between New York City and Los Angeles receives 5 millirems from cosmic rays in the natural background.
A team of investigators from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Environ-mental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare calculated the doses to the people living within 50 miles of.the Three Mile Island site and estimated the number of new cancers that would result from the exposure to the radioactivity that 1 caked out of the plant.
The team published their work in a report entitled, " Population Dose and Health Impact of the Accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station" (NUREG-0558).
They con-cluded that the offsite collective dose associated with radioactfve material released from March 28, 1979, to April 7, 1979, represents minimal risks (that is, a very small number of additional health effects to the offsite popula-tion).
Enclosed for your information is a summary of NUREG-0558.
Although it is generally agreed that epidemiologic studies of the resident population of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, could not detect any excess morbidity or nortality due to radiation exposure from the accident at the Three Mile 80 032'10 $
- February 15, 1980 Island facility, the Center for Disease Control and the Pennsylvania Depart-ment of Health (with assistance from the NRC) have conducted a census of the population residEng within five miles of Three Mile Island for the purpose of providing an adequate registry for potential future studies of health effects.
The Department of Health of the Connonwealth of Pennsylvania also is planning to update the population registry every five years over the next three decades.
In addition, the Health Department and several Pennsylvania universities are planning or already are conducting studies of health effects including preg-nancy outcome, congenital and postnatal thyroid diseases, mental health and cytogenetic abnormalities.
Although it is unlikely that these studies will be able to unravel the complex etiology of these health effects, the NRC is monitoring the studies and assist-ing where possible through its Radiological Health Standards Branch.
I appreciate your concerns and assure you that every effort is being made to (naure the continued protection of the health and safety of the public, not only at the Three Mile Island Station, but also at all nuclear power plants.
Sincerely, Orig l;,,
Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Encl: Sumary of NUREG-0558 l
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February 15, 1980 Distribution Docket (Attach original of incoming correspondence) - Docket Nos. 50-289 4 50-320
- NRC/PDR (Xerox copy of incoming and place behil outgoing PDR copy)
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- Place these three copies in one envelope and forward to DSB-016.
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De,r Prasident Cart.,
Is anyone coin to.cnit r the effects of the low level radiation to whie5 tne etticens of thir ev.try are being arcosed t bei fic ally, who is coin.- to study tha inhsbitants of Harrisburs,
Pa.nsyltr.nis and tha nearby modation cente-s for the next 31 yaars
=r.*; nota tha rie a of lea'<e'tta and solid tunors ?
Cr is tha nuela,r industry coine to per'.it seeident s like the one on Three.ila Island and continue to r.aintain th:t "no person was harned or injrai in the incident."
'.51 rs wa ce.~in to.cnitor chronie disasse, such irraso,nsibility C._ ev..tnua te.o unchseKed.
It's tina to inclupa in tha cost of nuclear cowar its lont-tem health ~f fects.
i.en we do, only rer.nonsible lendars will
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