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Fact Sheet on Radiation Monitoring at Nuclear Power Plants and the “Tooth Fairy” IssueMonitoring of Strontium-90The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is the Federal agency responsible for protecting public health and safety with regard to the use of nuclear materials in commercial nuclear power plants that generate electricity. Its regulations are based on sound science to make determinations that adequate protection of the public and the environment is being maintained. As part of its responsibility, NRC requires nuclear power plant operators to have effluent and environmental monitoring programs to ensure that the impacts from nuclear plant operations are minimized. The results of this monitoring have shown the presence of natural and weapons fallout radiation and a few instances of very low levels of radioactive material of nuclear power plant origin. Strontium, a silvery-white alkaline earth metal that exists in several stable and unstable (or radioactive) isotopes, is one substance that is monitored. One of these radioactive isotopes, strontium-90 (Sr-90) does not occur naturally. It is produced in nuclear fission--splitting of an atom’s center that releases energy--and has a half-life (decay of half its radioactivity) of about 28 years. In the United States, the primary pathway for Sr-90 to enter the body is through ingestion of contaminated foods and cow’s milk. A number of studies by the Radiation Public Health Project assert that levels of Sr-90 are rising in the environment and that these increased levels are responsible for increases in cancers, particularly cancers in children, and infant mortality. The group claims that radioactive effluents from nuclear power plants are directly responsible for the increases in Sr-90. In one 2003 study, researchers reported that Sr-90 concentrations in baby teeth are higher in areas around nuclear power plants than in other areas. This has sometimes been referred to as the “Tooth Fairy Project.” However, numerous peer-reviewed, scientific studies do not substantiate such claims. The NRC has established strict limits on the amount of radioactive emissions allowed to be released from nuclear power plants to the environment
Nuclear power plant operators maintain an environmental monitoring program that is reviewed and inspected regularly by NRC
The Sr-90 in the atmosphere from nuclear power plants is extremely small compared with other man-made sources
January 2005
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