Matheson Has Concerns with NAS Report

Information Gaps about Fallout Exposure Leave Uncertainties

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Jim Matheson said the conclusions of the National  Academies of Science (NAS) study assessing health risks associated with radioactive fallout support the need for more data for those Utahns concerned about their exposure to radiation from past nuclear weapons tests.

Matheson said he also has concerns that its recommendations will not address health issues facing Utah's "downwinder" community.

In 2002, Congress asked the NAS's Board on Radiation Effects Research to look at scientific evidence associating radiation exposure with cancers or other health effects and to determine if more of the population might be eligible for compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).  Public hearings were held in Utah, Arizona and Idaho last year.

The report acknowledges the very small number of monitoring stations in this country during the years of above ground testing.

"Other than monitoring at the Nevada Test Site and neighboring states, only 95 monitoring stations were in operation across the entire country when the open-air tests were conducted," said Matheson.  "That makes any risk calculation a difficult task at best.  I'm worried that moving away from geography as a basis for expanding RECA may result in thousands of downwinders falling through the cracks."

Matheson also noted that a just-released study by the National Cancer Institute of cancers among the population of the Marshall Islands-where 66 nuclear bombs were detonated from 1946-1958-found that 530 cancers were caused by the fallout.

Matheson is pleased with one recommendation in the NAS study.

"I'm glad that the report cites a need for the Centers for Disease Control and NCI to complete dose estimates for all significant radionuclides in fallout from nuclear weapons testing," said Matheson.  "To date, only one radioactive isotope -Iodine 131-has been extensively studied.  The fact that this report cites a lack of data comes as no surprise, but it does underline the need for more information for people who were told over and over again, there is no danger."

Matheson has introduced the "Safety for Americans from Nuclear Weapons Testing Act" in response to government actions supporting development and testing of new nuclear weapons.  Among other things, the bill calls for a significant investment in studies of the health effects of radiation exposure.

Alyson Heyrend
Communications Director
240 E. Morris Ave., #235
Salt Lake City UT 84115
(801) 486-1236  fax (801) 486-1417
(801) 455-5593  cell