MORTON SKORODIN
writing with class from Stillwater, Oklahoma

Nuclear Power – Health and Safety Issues
by Morton Skorodin, M.D.
22 February 2009

They're back.

Public Comment at the Hearing of the Energy & Utility Regulation Committee of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, February 17, 2009 to accompany power point presentation: Nuclear Power – Health and Safety Issues

Good afternoon. I am Dr. Morton Skorodin from Stillwater. It is a privilege to be at this committee’s meeting regarding HB1320. I will be discussing the health and safety aspects of nuclear power. I would like these notes and the power point presentation that I handed out to be included as part of the official record of this committee meeting. Briefly about me: I am board certified in internal medicine and pulmonology with special qualification in critical care. I retired several years ago for family reasons. I was privileged to have a full career with the VA, serving our veterans directly as care provider and doing research in COPD. Subsequently I was in private practice.

Nuclear power causes serious health problems. In fact, there is no threshold dose below which ionizing radiation is safe according to the National Academy of Sciences.

Why do nuclear reactors cause health problems? There are two reasons. Reason 1: Nuclear power plants vent radioactive nuclear gases every single day – required for their “normal” operation. This discharge may contain as many as hundreds of different kinds of deadly nuclear substances. Reason 2: Accidents – occasional but deadly. What do you think of when you think of nuclear accidents? Most people think about Chernobyl and Three Mile Island – around the world these disasters are common knowledge.

Do you think about Gore, Oklahoma? On Jan 4,1986, an overfilled cylinder with Uranium gas (Uranium hexafluoride) exploded. It had 29,500 lb of gas that was released to air and water. One worker died, 100 were hospitalized. Apparently there was no follow up health data available for the Gore-Vian area. There was no disaster plan, no prior training and notification of police and other first responders, and essentially no publicity.

It was comparable in size to Three Mile Island! A medical literature review revealed zero reports about the Gore accident. In contrast Three Mile Island had 125 reports and Chernobyl had 3396 reports.

Do you think about Church Rock, New Mexico? In July, 1979 the Uranium mill, which produced >2M lb Uranium oxide per year had a disaster. Its waste held in lagoons and an earthen dam failed. The radiation release was greater than Three Mile Island. 1100 tons of radioactive waste and 95M gallons of mill effluent waste. Effluent entered Puerco River and traveled 80 miles downstream. The mill re-opened a few months later followed by significant groundwater contamination. Finally the mill was closed. A medical literature search revealed zero studies on Church Rock.

The health effects: abortion. Chernobyl accident caused abortion of fetuses, specifically those at 3 months gestation at the time of the accident, preferentially male fetuses.

Cancer: All forms of cancer can be induced by radiation.

Childhood leukemia is up to three times greater near nuclear power plants. Breast cancer formerly occurred 1 in 11 women, now it is 1 in 8. There are 216 estrogenic chemical pollutants in the environment. Uranium is highly estrogenic, effects occurring at doses lower than EPA standards for drinking water. Uranium interacts with other environmental toxins and genetic susceptibility to produce breast cancer.

Likely half the people in this room have or will have relatives with breast cancer. I wouldn’t want to vote for something that causes cancer. If a loved one develops cancer, one can not know if his or her vote was the cause. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night after that.

Thyroid cancer, another example, is caused by Iodine-131 from nuclear plants and bombs, as well as X-rays. It is becoming more common.

Regrettably, HB1320 does not mention health or safety issues.

Nuclear power is bad for Oklahoma and bad for America.

Thank you.

Morton S. Skorodin, M.D.
February 17, 2009

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Morton Skorodin is a retired physician living in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. He along with others in his town opposed the so-called Patriot Act and the Iraq and other wars. He may be reached at mskorodin at gmail.com.

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