If you wish to sign on, please complete the form below with your name, and city of residence.

Samuel Lawrence Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization partnering to collect signatures on this petition sponsored by:

Howard Conn, MD, Laguna Beach
Phyllis Agran, MD, Professor Emeritus, Irvine
Richard Appelbaum, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Santa Barbara
David Krieger, PhD, President Emeritus, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara
Frank Chisari, MD, Professor Emeritus, Del Mar
Bill Honigman, MD, North Tustin
Roger Johnson, PhD, Professor Emeritus, San Clemente
Donald Mosier, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Del Mar
Bart Ziegler, PhD, President, Samuel Lawrence Foundation, Del Mar



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.  

The representatives of those who live within 50 km of radioactive emissions from a nuclear power plant 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 The most recent research in the United States was carried out 29 years ago and is now considered heavily flawed and outdated.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