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EXPECTED HEALTH EFFECTS IF THERE IS AN ACCIDENT AT PILGRIM - 
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

Reactor Core Melt

Sandia National Laboratory did a study for U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Calculation of Reactor Accident Consequences for U.S. Nuclear Power Plants (CRAC 2), 1982. The results for Pilgrim are summarized in the table below. The statistics appear sanitized; in actuality, the figures would include your friends, neighbors, and family. 

1. peak early fatalities (deaths from radiation exposure occurring within the first year)
2. peak early injuries (radiation-related injuries occurring within one-year which require hospitalization or medical attention – include conditions such as sterility, thyroid nodules, vomiting, cataracts) 
3. peak cancer deaths (predicted to occur over a lifetime to exposed population – leukemia assumed)

Spent Fuel Pool Accident

The Massachusetts Attorney General requested a report on the potential consequences of a spent fuel pool fire at Pilgrim, 2006.
The results are summarized below. The full report is available on NRC's website http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html.
Adams Accession Number "ML061630088."

Estimates of Costs and Latent Cancers Following Releases of Cesium-137 from Pilgrim’s Spent-Fuel Pool
 

 Source: The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Request for a Hearing and Petition for Leave to Intervene With respect to Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc.’s Application for Renewal of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plants Operating License and Petition for Backfit Order Requiring New Design features to Protect Against Spent Fuel Pool Accidents, Docket No. 50-293, May 26, 2006 includes a Report to The Massachusetts Attorney General On The Potential Consequences Of A Spent Fuel Pool Fire At The Pilgrim Or Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant, Jan Beyea, PhD., May 25, 2006.

If There Is An Accident At Pilgrim, What About Thyroid Cancer?

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reported:

The NRC's NUREG/CR 1433 shows that for children, the following dangers may occur from the inhalation of nuclear materials after a massive core-melt atmospheric accident (like Chernobyl):
Also note that the estimates are conservative in that they do not take into account the vast quantities of iodine now stored in spent fuel pools from recently unloaded reactor cores that would be released in a worst case accident scenario.

Approximate Dangers of a Core-Melt Atmospheric Accident for Children

NRC’s NUREG-1623 points out that radioactive iodide can travel hundreds of miles on the winds. An increase in cancer caused by Chernobyl…”was detected in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Notably, this increase, seen in areas more that 150 miles from the site, continues to this day and primarily affects children who were 0-14 years old at the time of the accident…the vast majority of the thyroid cancers were diagnosed among those living more than 31 miles from the site. 

The 2001 figures were 11,000 thyroid cancers at 31 miles.

World Health Organization Reported:

The recently updated (1999) World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Iodine Prophylaxis following Nuclear Accidents states in its abstract regarding thyroid cancer caused by the Chernobyl disaster: 

"This increase in incidence has been documented up to 500 km from the accident site." 


...And therefore...”That stockpiling (KI or KIO3) is warranted, when feasible, over much wider areas than normally encompassed by emergency planning zones, and that the opportunity for voluntary purchase be part of national plans." 

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