Volume 7, Number 1
January 5, 2007
Published by RPHP
PO Box 60 Unionville, NY 10988
Editor: Joseph Mangano
http://www.radiation.org

A note from the Editor: The following covers the activities of RPHP from September through December 2006.

New Editorials Warn Against New Reactors
RPHPs Joseph Mangano published editorials warning about health risks of building new nuclear reactors in several newspapers, bringing the total for the year to 12 editorials. Each newspaper is located in an area where new reactors have been proposed. The 12 papers have a total daily circulation of well over one million, and include the largest dailies in Idaho, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia. Utilities have proposed building as many as 27 new reactors across the U.S.

To read these editorials click here visit our Press page.

RPHP Participates in Forum on Aging New Jersey Reactor
Mangano was part of a panel speaking on the hazards of the Oyster Creek nuclear reactor, held at the Rutgers University School of Law in Newark NJ on December 8. Actor and long time RPHP supporter Alec Baldwin moderated the forum, which was attended by about 150 persons. Other presenters included Richard Webster and Julia Huff of Rutgers, Robert Alvarez of the Institute of Policy Studies, and Paul Gunter of the Nuclear Information Service (NIRS). Rutgers is helping with efforts to oppose a 20-year extension off Oyster Creek’s license after it expires in May 2009.

RPHP Joins Intervention Against Georgia Reactors
The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League has enlisted Mangano’s assistance in a legal intervention against the Alvin Vogtle nuclear plant in Waynesboro GA. Blue Ridge is coordinating opposition to a plan by the Southern Company to add two new reactors at Vogtle, and is basing its case (partly) on public health risk to local residents. Southern, along with other utilities, is attempting to be the first to order a new nuclear reactor in the U.S. since 1978.

Tooth Study Used in Connecticut Election Campaign
On November 1, Democratic Gubernatorial candidate John DeStefano held a press conference in Waterford CT, in front of the Millstone nuclear plant. DeStefano spoke out against Governor Jodi Rell’s withdrawal of a promise to contribute $25,000 to RPHP for the collection and Strontium-90 testing of baby teeth. Despite DeStefano’s call for a restoration of the funds, he was defeated by Rell in the election just several days later. Model Christie Brinkley sent a letter of support for the project.

New Pennsylvania Thyroid Cancer Study Released
In December, Mangano released a report showing thyroid cancer incidence in Pennsylvania was the highest in the nation, and highest near the state’s nuclear reactors. The report was announced on the monthly cable television show of the Alliance for a Clean Environment in Pottstown PA. Thyroid cancer, the most rapidly rising of all cancers, is closely linked with exposure to radioactive iodine produced in nuclear reactors. Eastern Pennsylvania has the densest cluster of nuclear reactors in the country.

Two New Board Members Added
RPHP has added Robert Alvarez and Dr. Judith Johnsrud to its Board of Directors. Alvarez is Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. He previously served in positions at Standing for Truth About Radiation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.

Dr. Johnsrud directs the Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power in State College PA, and has written and lectured extensively about nuclear issues. She is board chair of the Nuclear Information Resource Service, and is a board member of the New England Coalition Against Nuclear Power.