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People’s Petition to Know and Protect

Every U.S. nuclear reactor releases radioactivity into the air and water during routine operation. But virtually every U.S. reactor has been leaking radioactivity into the surface and ground water and even beyond the reactor boundaries. In some cases, the reactor owners never told the public about the leaks. When the leaks were made public, the utilities downplayed their potential for harm. Yet scientists agree there is no “safe” level for exposure to radiation and chronic exposure can even increase health risks, especially to children (including in-utero) and to pregnant women.

Our petition demands that utilities identify all off-site pathways of radioactive water from reactors; that the public be immediately informed about all radioactive leaks from nuclear reactors; and that more protective and precautionary radiation standards be developed, implemented and enforced. Sign our petition today! We will submit it to the U.S. Congress. And please download and copy our blank petition page to use in your communities and with your city and state officials.

Please act today to make communities safer tomorrow Sign our petition here.

 

  

Protecting Children

Beyond Nuclear Goals for Protecting Children: Advocate for mandatory independent testing of air and water around reactor sites; establish a People’s Petition for the Right to Know when radiation is leaked into the human environment; place stories about health effects from radiation spills, leaks and releases in the major national media.

No Safe Dose

Although the scientific community recognizes that there is no safe dose of radiation, federal agencies permit “allowable” or “legal” levels of radiation exposure to humans that are neither conservative nor protective enough.

These levels are based only on the obsolete “Reference Man,” a healthy, white male in the prime of life, and ignore the more vulnerable fetus, growing infant and child, the aged, those in poor health, and women who are, according to the National Academy of Sciences 37- 50% more vulnerable than adult men to the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. These levels, therefore, do not take into account the far greater vulnerability of women and children, especially pregnant women and unborn children.

Beyond Nuclear is supporting efforts to have these standards revised.

Case Study

The Children of Illinois – an Unfolding Story

In Illinois – the state with the most nuclear reactors (11) in the country – Beyond Nuclear has been tracking disturbing cancer incidences and other health abnormalities - especially among children – around the Braidwood and Dresden nuclear reactors.

At Braidwood, dozens of known tritium leaks and spills hidden from the public for more than a decade have contaminated area groundwater and seeped into private wells. This has prompted concern about health effects, including cancer “clusters.” Yet the owner – Exelon – and government officials downplayed the potential harm of ingesting tritium despite the fact that prolonged exposure to even low doses of tritium are known to cause cancers and birth defects.

Around Dresden, also owned by Exelon, there has been an unexplained increase in rare childhood brain cancers, heart ailments and birth defects, in most cases proving fatal. Dresden had also leaked tritium into drainage ditches and is listed by the NRC as having the highest airborne radioactive emissions in the country.

Families around every nuclear power plant could face similar risks. That is why Beyond Nuclear will work to bring these stories to national media attention. Every family has the right to make informed choices about their environment and health.

Watch for updates on this page about our efforts to safeguard reactor communities from radiation harm.

Please help us bring these important stories to the national media so families everywhere can be protected. Donate to our campaign by supporting Beyond Nuclear here.

And please sign our People’s Petition to Know and Protect to ensure that every family is aware of the risks of radiation from nuclear reactors. Sign the petition here.
 
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