Immediate action needed on NAS cancer panel

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Nuclear Radiation and Studies Board (NRSB) has announced the provisional membership for a panel to examine the cancer risks around NRC licensed nuclear facilities. This panel will not only examine nuclear power reactors, but ALL NRC licensed facilities including waste sites, uranium mines, etc.

Please immediately:

• Demand a release of the conflict of interest forms for the panel
• Send a request to extend the comment deadline by two weeks

For both requests, contact Ralph J. Cicerone, President of NAS, 202-334-2101, naspresident@nas.edu

The public has until the end of January to comment on the panel members and professional composition. Beyond Nuclear will be submitting comments on individual conflicts of interest and overall balance and appropriateness of disciplines by January 31. Please contact Beyond Nuclear (cindy@beyondnuclear.org) if you are familiar with any of the provisional members. PLEASE COMMENT: We encourage you to submit your own comments as well.

For more background on this issue, see other entries on our website including our original announcement of the study, our concern about, and the recusal of, Richard Meserve from this panel selection.

The study will be conducted in two phases. Phase one, which started on September 1, 2010, will determine how best to conduct an epidemiological study on the cancer risks from Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) licensed facilities in the United States and will continue for 15 months.