Here is an important issue for everyone who lives in CA 49, CA 48, and CA 45: Does living within 50 miles of San Onofre increase your risk of cancer (especially for women, children, and the human fetus)? The cancer study to be carried out here by the National Academy of Sciences was terminated by the NRC. This petition is an attempt to show public support for restarting it. Please join with an RSVP indicating your NAME and CITY OF RESIDENCE. Please also circulate to anyone you know who might be interested or concerned.
The Samuel Lawrence Foundation
Invites you to sign a petition sponsored by
Phyllis Agran, MD, Professor Emeritus, Irvine
Richard Appelbaum, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Santa Barbara
Frank Chisari, MD, Professor Emeritus, Del Mar
Bill Honigman, MD, North Tustin
Roger Johnson, PhD, Professor Emeritus, San Clemente
David Krieger, PhD, President Emeritus, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara
Donald Mosier, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Del Mar
Bart Ziegler, PhD, President, Samuel Lawrence Foundation, Del Mar
Petition
We the undersigned request that our representatives in Congress seek funding from the House Appropriations Committee for the commencement of research recommended by the National Academy of Sciences in a 2015 report entitled, Analysis of Cancer Risks in Populations Near Nuclear Facilities. If you wish to join the petition, please reply with your name and city of residence. If you would like to circulate this petition to others, please have them click on this link where they can reply directly to the Samuel Lawrence Foundation:
The representatives of those who live within 50 km of radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants are:
CA 24: Congressman Salud Carbajal
CA 45: Congresswoman Katie Porter
CA 48: Congressman Harley Rouda
CA 49: Congressman Mike Levin
Background
The San Onofre nuclear power plant (CA 45, 48, and 49) has been discharging low-level radioactivity into the ocean and atmosphere regularly since 1968. The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant (CA 24) has been doing the same since 1985. No one knows for sure whether these radioactive releases are a threat to the health and safety for those who live in these areas (or over 100 million Americans who also live near nuclear power plants). The most recent research in the United States was carried out 29 years ago and is now considered heavily flawed and outdated. More recent studies in Europe have reported an increase in cancer risks for those living near nuclear power plants.
In order to address this important question, the National Academy of Sciences was charged with reexamining the issues. After five years of study, it released a 412 page Phase 1 report plus a Phase 2 plan for a pilot study of six of the nation’s nuclear power plants including one in California. The research proposes to study cancer in people who live within 50 km of San Onofre. If increased cancer risks are discovered, populations around all nuclear power plants in the U.S. would be studied. The research was never carried out because the NRC terminated funding just as the research was about to begin. Since the National Academy of Sciences is funded only by government agencies, this petition requests that Congress appropriate the $8 million necessary to re-start this research. This is a scientific endeavor which will improve our understanding of cancer, the leading cause of death in California. It is especially important for women, children, and the human fetus who are much more vulnerable to the biological effects of harmful ionizing radiation.
Analysis of Cancer Risks in Populations near Nuclear Facilities: Phase 1 (2012) http://dels.nas.edu/Report/Analysis-Cancer-Risks-Populations/13388
Analysis of Cancer Risks in Populations Near Nuclear Facilities: Phase 2 Pilot Planning (2015) http://dels.nas.edu/Nuclear/Radiation-Health-Effects/Reports-Academies-Findings
